


When Darkness Calls

by Stardancer07



Series: Of Magic and Alchemy [1]
Category: Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-05-23 02:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 45,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6101173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardancer07/pseuds/Stardancer07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the magic of Earthland reaches into the world of alchemy, strange things happen. This story follows Edward Elric's daughter as she struggles with powers she can't control. But when she finds herself in Earthland with only Fairy Tail to help, she might be forced to change her perspective while discovering the mystery of her own story. Takes place at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and after the Edolas trip for Fairy Tail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I have not read the manga. Some elements of the story might contradict things that happened inside of them. Please do not hate me.

_The time is almost upon us. We must make a decision now, or we’ll be lost to the other side forever._ In the darkness of the cave, only the light from the moon allowed the others to know where Ereban was. His scales seemed to melt into the shadows. Yet his eyes were visible from the glittering of the stars that could be seen from the narrow entrance of the cave.

_There is much that might falter,_ Metalicana warned. His iron plated skin screeched on the cave floor as he shifted into a more comfortable position. _Humans are weak. Very few possess the strength to bear the weight of our magic. During the war, we choose our pupils, we taught them to be strong. But forcing this power on a child, they will be surrounded by nothing but insecurity. There is no one on the other side that could even begin to explain the ability. The human who would be chosen will be an outsider. They might not be up to this task._

The other two dragons swung their heads at Ereban. These were challenges that must be met. Igneel and Grandeeny were the ones to convince if Ereban’s plan was to be put into action.  The fire dragon and the sky dragon had to allow Ereban to touch the other side. Otherwise, the dragons of Earth Land would be banished to another place, far from the home they knew.

_You are right, Metalicana._ Ereban agreed. _There is risk involved in this plan. But, from what we’ve gathered about this other realm, that world is not without some magic. I believe they conduct magic practices called Alchemy. The one chosen will not be completely ridiculed. And as we have seen, humans who are placed in stressful situations have proven to be stronger than they appear normally. If we were to impress our power onto an unborn child, they will become strong due to the strain the power inflicts on them._

Igneel bowed his head in agreement. His deep voice seemed to thunder throughout the cave. _I realize that your plan is our only option at this point. We don’t have any other choice. But Ereban, you realize that you are the only one who can send the child your power. The rest of us cannot reach through the Gate like you can. That may also pose a problem, since darkness is often regarded as evil._

_I understand that._ Ereban was beginning to get impatient. These three stubborn elders were wasting valuable time. _But as you said, what other choice do we have? Our time is up and there is no stopping the inevitable. We must hope that our choice will be the right one._

Ereban waited for the elders to come to their final decision. Finally, Grandeeny nodded her head, the cloud white scales sparkling in the pale moonlight. _Very well Ereban. You may touch the other side. Find the child and give them your magic. However, be ever so careful. You know that Acnologia will break free soon. Once that happens, he’ll know if you open the Gate. If he discovers your plan, the child will be hunted down and murdered. He won’t allow for any lose ends. Go quickly._

Ereban stood and hastily made is way to the entrance of the cave. Once outside, he spread his midnight wings and took to the starlit sky. Flying as fast as the wind would carry him, he angled his wings to the mountain in the distance. There, at the peak, the power of the Gate was thought to be the strongest. He alit on the hard rock and poised himself.

Between two narrow cropping’s of rock, a magic circle could be barely seen. With one massive claw, Ereban touched the rim of the circle. The magic flowed from his body and the earth around him seemed to stop. Instead of standing on the top of the mountain, Ereban was surrounded by a white nothing. The only thing that could be seen were black marble doors. The marble had carvings engraved on it, letters of an alphabet lost to time itself. The doors were taller than the even the shadow dragon that stood before them, something that never happened elsewhere.

Ereban wasn’t sure about the next part. With hesitation, he pushed on the doors. They slowly opened and from the darkness inside, claw-like hands sprung out. The hands tried to grab hold of Ereban, but he stood his ground and roared.

_I am the darkness. I am your master! Show me the other side of the Gate!_ The hands wavered, then pulled back into the emptiness of beyond the gate. Ereban peered inside.

He could see almost nothing expect black now. Yet all around him there was small lights, like lanterns, dancing and weaving about. Some were large and bright, some were small and weak. He could only reach a few without falling into the abyss below. Ereban knew he must choose the smallest light, yet brightest light he could touch. These lights were humans souls, the larger they were, older the human. However, if the light was strong, the soul would also be strong. But he needed an unborn child, the smallest light of all. He looked around, trying to find a bright light from an unborn child, but there was only one nearby.

It was not strong, nor was it weak. It was simply normal. Ereban wished he had more time to search, but time was gone. Acnologia would break free of his bonds soon. With very little choice, Ereban reached out to touch the soul. He grasped it in the palm of his paw, surrounding it with his claws.

_I give to you the power of a dragon slayer._ He whispered to it. _Find us, free us, and become a great wizard. Take my strength and make it your own. You are the only hope we have._ He released the soul and it floated away. Ereban withdrew from the doorway and the white world vanished from view. Suddenly, he was back on top of the mountain as the glow from the magic circle faded.

Now the child was selected, the timing was perfect. Seven years from now, the dragons would find themselves on the other side, and Ereban could take up his role as the child’s mentor. They had seven years to wait.

Time past. The dragons had found a way to carry their burden of knowledge on their shoulders. Igneel, Metalicana and Grandeeny had found human pupils, fostering them from a young age. But Ereban had refused to interact with humans. The people of Earth Land didn’t like shadow dragons, so he stayed away. Besides, to him, Ereban would have a pupil of his own soon enough.

He sheltered in a cave not far from the mountain where the entrance of the Gate stood. All the other dragons were spending their last moments in Earth Land with whomever they’d be losing.

 From far away, he could hear an earth shattering roar. Acnologia had come. He could see the mountain as a massive dragon, one larger than both Igneel and Ereban combined, landed on the peak that Ereban had been seven years ago. This was it, the time had come. The dragons were about to be sent away forever. On the seventh day of the seventh month in the year X777. A day that had been feared by all dragons that survived the civil war.

Light from the magic circle glowed fiercely from the mountain. The world around Ereban began to tremble. His vision became fragmented, the green from the trees and the dark gray from the rocks looking like broken glass. The ground underneath his feet was suddenly no longer there. Only darkness, the inside of the Gate.

Ereban expected to instantly be warped to the other side, where he could reunite with the child’s soul that he had touched seven years ago, but instead, a deep throated laughter echoed through the abyss.

Acnologia’s evil voice seared through Ereban’s mind. _Seven years,_ he said. _Seven years it took me to gain enough energy to send you all here. So, seven years you will spend in the abyss. Enjoy the darkness._

Ereban felt himself falling into the chasm in-between the two worlds. To a dragon, seven years was nothing, but to the child, one that may seem cursed, seven years would seem like a life time. Ereban roared to the emptiness, in some hope that the child would hear him. _Be strong, my chosen one, stay strong. I will come. I promise._


	2. Resembool

“Stay strong. I will come. I promise.” That voice both haunted and comforted me for as long as I could remember. I’m pretty sure the first time I heard it was in a dream. It was in the dark, I was falling and the thunderous roar seemed to come from a beast. All my nightmares are in the dark, always, because the darkness scares me to death. But even though it was nightmare, the voice somehow helped me. I never knew why, but that deep comforting phrase stuck with me.

Especially right now. Our whole family was in one room, my parents, my aunt and uncle and two cousins. I sit uncomfortably in chair with my hands under the table. Not that I didn’t love my family, it’s because I loved them that I didn’t want them near me. Bad stuff happened around me, all the flipping time. Yet my dad insisted that I participate in a family dinner.  I look up at him on my right. I’m the same size as him, and other than my jet black hair verses his blonde hair, we looked almost identical.  He taps his foot, waiting sort of impatiently for my uncle to pass him the stew.

“We all know you love stew, but is there any chance you might grow to love milk, too?” My mother sneaks in another chance to tease my dad about his hatred of the white liquid.

My father gives her an evil eye. “Never. You know that.”

Mom smirks. “Then you will remain short forever.” Uncle Al snorts, while trying to suppress a laugh. Dad glares at his brother. I am on my father’s side. Milk is disgusting. I refuse to drink it.

“Hey Uncle Ed!” Hazel calls from across the table. “Aunt Winry says Diana won’t drink milk because you’re a bad influence! Is that why she won’t?”

Her twin counter-part, Evan, drops his fork and tries to mumble something but has a mouthful of potato, so it takes him a while to speak properly. “And Mommy said that even though Diana doesn’t drink milk, we still have to. Right, Mommy?” He looks up at his mother and my Aunt May bites her lip, trying not to smile.

Leave it to the twins to say something like that. I pale as Dad’s face grows red. “Milk is a life choice!” He yells. “You don’t need to grow tall! Just look at Diana, she’s tall!”

I try to shrink back into my chair. Suddenly, my appetite is gone. “Can I go back to my room? I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Stick around for a little longer, hon.” Mom touches my shoulder. “Desert will be out soon.” I want desert, but not that bad. There is a book waiting in my room, and whenever the whole family was around, my emotions spike erratically. That isn’t good, or safe, for someone like me. But I am forced to remain in my seat.

Right before desert was served, the phone rings. Dad goes to pick it up. He puts it to his ear. “Hello? Can I ask whose calling? Oh, General Mustang…. Yea and what for?” A pause. “You’ve got to be kidding, but I have… Oh. Okay. I understand… Well I won’t be able to catch any trains to Central until tomorrow morning…. Yea, the earliest one I can. I’ll see you then. Good night, General.” He hangs up the phone and sighs.

My mother puts the cake she was holding on the table, and out of the corner of my eye, I see my Aunt May slap the twins hands away from it. Mom turns to Dad, “What’s wrong? You’re leaving?” She sounded sad.

With a weight, my dad nods his head. “Yea, both Alphonse and I are needed at Central as soon as possible. It’s a big emergency. I probably won’t be home for a couple days.”

Uncle Al rises from the table. “The train tomorrow leaves at six in the morning, right?  That means we have to get ready now.” My dad and my uncle are gone in a flash, leaving the cake untouched in the middle of the table.

My heart is crushed. Dad wouldn’t be home on a special occasion, again. This time, I don’t ask to be excused, I simply leave to go up to my room. Thankfully, no one tries to stop me. This always happened, Dad always had to leave, even when it was most important. I close the door and flop into bed. The light was off but I was too beaten down to turn it on. Instead, I let the shadows around me grow larger, the way they always do when I’m moody. Shadows lived around me, and it scares the daylights out of everybody. The only people who never seem to mind are the twins, and that was because they are too young to know better.

The shadows had been with me forever, always around me, and the more I feel, the stronger they grow. Mom and Dad have no idea how to help. Dad used to be a fantastic alchemist, the youngest state alchemist there was, until he traded his gift for his brother’s life. Now he’s a scientist for the State, and the military calls him all the time for advice. But despite all that knowledge, the man who was known as Fullmetal doesn’t have a clue what to do with me.

The most horrible part of it all, I’m positive I remind Dad of one of his old enemies, the Homunculus, Pride. He had a scary power with darkness too. He possessed Uncle Al when he was still in the armor, killed dozens, and served the one they called Father. I know Dad tries desperately not to show it, but the curse on me forces him to remember Pride.

I don’t mean to hurt my parents, or really anybody. But no matter how hard I try, my curse always gets the better of me. I’m lucky that it hasn’t killed anyone yet. Mom almost lost her arm when I accidentally blew up the oven. All it took was me cutting my finger with the knife while chopping carrots. _Boom._ The oven caught fire from the gas pipe mysteriously cracking. Had Mom opened the door, she would have been engulfed in flame. Of course, she insists that it wasn’t me, that the pipe had been old and it need to be replaced anyway. But I knew better. I am dangerous.

I sit in my self-inflicted darkness for almost a half an hour before there is a knock on my door. The shadows seem to suppress themselves a little. Without my permission, the door creaks open.

First Hazel, than Evan, pop their 8-year-old heads into my room. Their eyes are wide open with excitement and the glitter of happiness. They shuffle their way into my room and Evan is holding something behind his back. They half run, half skid to the side of my bed. From behind Evan’s back, he produces a piece of cake on a plate with a fork. They smile bright enough to chase all the remaining shadows away.

I take the plate in my hands, cut it into three pieces, all barley bite size, and hand each of them once slice. Without a word, they accept it and crawl on my bed next to me. We eat in silence, since there is no need for words. And for that small moment, I’m happy once again.

* * * * *

The days slowly count down, me all the while begging that I’d see Dad making his way down the long dirt street. Resembool only has dirt streets, which makes for great fun whenever it rains or snows. But the streets are bone dry now, and I don’t see even a whisper of my father or his distinguished red jacket. I sit on the porch most of the time, simply waiting, or reading. Occasionally, I’ll hear the triumphant yell of one of the twins across the wind. Their house is almost a mile away, but I can always hear them. And on days with nothing to do, they occupy their time with alchemy experiments. Whenever I hear them, happy from a successful transmutation, I get jealous. I never understood why they had been born with such a useful skill, while I was cursed. But sometimes, I forget about me entirely, and I’m just happy along with them.

I’m sitting on the steps on the front porch, when the screen door opens from behind me. Mom comes out, her ponytail flapping wildly in the wind. “Your dad just called.” She informs me. “Something crazy is going down right now. The State found a new species, really big and possibly dangerous. They’re trying to figure out if it’s the product of alchemy. They’re thinking that someone was trying to make a dragon or something.”

Instantly, I perk up. All of the books I read are fantasy. I love reading about adventures and happy endings. It gives me hope for myself. The thought of dragons interests me greatly.

However, Mom’s face isn’t as upbeat as mine. “But this means they won’t be home for a while. But we can have our own celebration when Dad gets back, okay.”

My excited feeling falls away. I nod my head and try to shrug it off, but it doesn’t really work. I’m still left with this pressure on my heart. I try to stay positive and tell myself there is always next year. With that thought in my head, I return to my fantasy, where the hero is about confront the evil that surrounds his family.

Later that night, the light is off, I’m trying to get my eyes to shut. Unaware, my mind drifts away from this world, and I’m unable to keep myself focused on one thing. This is how I sleep, I just let my mind wander until I’m completely out.

In find myself in the dark, and somehow I realize I’m in a dream. But that’s really strange, since when I’m dreaming normally, I never know it. And this dream is different, yet familiar. I’m not falling but I can hear the breath of a powerful beast. I know that breath, I’ve heard it before. The beast speaks, the voice echoing around me, words that I know I’ve heard before. _Be strong, my chosen one. Stay strong. I’ve finally come._

The shadows come close to me, I can feel them approaching all around. I scream, terrified, like I always am. But the shadows don’t attack or even hurt me in the slightest. For the first time, I feel like they are at my command, waiting for me to come to them. I reach out tentatively and touch one. Strength rushes into my body and I’m so much more alive. The fear drains away.

In a single heartbeat, I’m awake. I’m back in my room. The dream is all but gone. But the sensation the shadows brought me remain. I’m not afraid.

 Almost on instinct, I raise my hand, palm up. It’s small at first, but when I allow it, it grows. Almost flame-like shadows dance across my hand, completely under control. This has never happened before, not once. I never deliberately summoned the darkness before. But now that I did, I found, amazingly, that I could control them.

A warm glow spreads through my body. If I could control them by accepting them, than I didn’t have to be afraid anymore. I smile.


	3. Resembool

The next morning, I’m in a great mood. I don’t tell Mom about last night because I don’t think I should reveal it just yet, but a few more days of practice, I could show her and Dad.

I spend the morning finishing up my book. The ending was perfect. The hero fought a hard battle but, with a surprise twist that rocked my world, he saved the day. I am brimming with happiness. Later in the afternoon, I check in to see what Mom was doing. She’s buried in an auto mail order, and I don’t dare bother her, else be attacked with a wrench. Dad warned me about her when she’s in the zone. Scary doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I head for the woods that borders the foot of the mountains. There’s a creek, and tons of big boulders to climb over. I never see anyone in here, just birds, squirrels and the occasional lost deer. It’s a perfect place to practice.

Once I think I’m deep enough where no one can see me, I stop. Again, I hold my hand up, and the shadows come out to play. Still hesitant, my hand shakes. But I hold it out and point it at a rock. A deep breath in, hold, and a sharp exhale. A blast of shadow rockets from my hand, throwing me back onto the leaf covered ground. By the time I look up, the rock is no longer there, just a few pebbles and dust settling. I couldn’t believe it, the shadows did exactly what I wanted them to.

After almost an hour of practice, turning rocks into dust and getting myself stuck in trees multiple times, I feel a drop of water on my face. Then another, I look up. I had been so focused, I didn’t even know a dark storm cloud had snuck its way into the valley. I don’t want to get soaked, so I rush for home.

Just as the down pour starts, I make it to my cousin’s house. Aunt May is inside, forcing the twins into rain coats. She smiles at me as I walk in panting.

Hazel and Evan are happy to see me. “You’re all wet!” Hazel points out the obvious. “Do you want to come see us make something with alchemy? Mommy says we can go in Daddy’s shed.” This is one of the rare times that I’m not jealous, so I nod my head.

Evan points to his mother. Her little panda sits on her shoulder, watching us. Evan begs her, “Can we make a necklace for Xiao-Mei? Pretty please?”

Aunt May smiles. “Of course, but remember, don't make it too flashy. She's not one for glitz.”

They nod eagerly. Each one grabs one of my hands and drags me out into the rain. We race for the shed that Uncle Al keeps a feet meters from the house. Once inside, the twins shed their rain coats.

The shed is filled to the brim with alchemy books. They’re not all about alchemy from Amestris, our home country. There are some from Xing that Aunt May returns from her country and all about Alche-History, some are even recovered from the lost land of Xerxes. The Elric brothers traveled far and wide before finally settling down back in Resembool.

In addition to the books, all kinds of scientific stuff shower the shed. It makes the perfect playground for an alchemist.

The twins drop to the floor and motion for me to come down with them. I kneel around what is a hand drawn transmutation circle. Evan puts a few pieces of scrap metal into the circle. He and Hazel place their hands on the circle. The circle glows and when the light dies, a small hanger with a tiny necklace that could serve as a bracelet. I’m breath-taken. No matter home many times I see it, alchemy always amazes me.

Evan carefully takes the bracelet off and holds it up to the light. The detailed work proves the skill of the alchemists that made it. Evan puts the earring in his pocket.

“Hey.” Hazel pipes up. “We still have a lot left. Let’s make something else!”

“What are you going to make?” I ask. Hazel looks up at me, then smiles. She leans over to Evan and whispers something in his ear. He smiles, too. They place their hands on the circle again and the light returns. Then, I’m staring a small metal plate, and in the middle, a necklace with a beautiful dragon design as the charm. Hazel picks it up and holds it up to me.

“Happy birthday!” She yells and Evan grins.

It is my birthday, I’d almost forgotten. The awe involved in controlling my shadows had nearly driven it from my mind. I take the necklace from Hazel.

“It’s amazing.” I say, with tears forming in my eyes. Happiness brewed until it had nowhere to go but out. I quickly put the necklace around my neck. It hung gracefully. “Thank you so much, guys! This is perfect.” I reach out and drew them in for a hug. Tears slip down my face and onto the floor of the shed. They hug me back.

We hear the door behind us creak. I turn expecting it to be Aunt May, checking in on us. But it’s not. A tall man stands in the doorway, soaked from head to toe. His damp, brown hair lays flat on his head. Black eyes stare out from his skull, trained on me.

“Here you are.” He mumbles. “I couldn’t find you out in the woods. I thought you went out there.”

Something on the back of my neck tingles. This man, he doesn’t smell right. He smells of alcohol and I could even sense the anger coming from him. Ever since I was born, everyone said I could smell really well, and I believed them. I could pick up smells and trails almost as well as a dog could. And this man, I smelled him earlier, but I turned away since I was trying to be alone to practice. But now it seems like he had been looking for me. I switch my position from hugging Evan and Hazel to shielding them.

The man comes closer, he’s almost on top of us. I try to get the kids to stand up with me, but they’re scared too, and they freeze. I make an attempt to act intimidating. “Why are you here? Why were you looking for me?”

The man is now boring his eyes into me. He cruelly smiles. “I’m just trying to repay a favor. Your daddy did me wrong a few years back and I lost everything because of it. It was only a little bit of science. I wanted to know how long a humanoid chimera would last, if it would live longer if I used a younger human. The military said it’s never been done before, but I know they’re lying. A state alchemist named Shou Tucker did it, I’m sure. I just wanted to carry on his work.”

I’m horrified. Dad told me stories about Tucker and what he did to his own daughter, Nina. To think that this man was trying to do the same thing was unbelievable.

The man, who sports a sadistic grin, pulls back his jacket to reveal a hand gun tucked in his waistband. He yanks it from its place. “I almost got away with it, too. But your self-righteous old man figured me out and he left me to rot in prison.” He points the gun at me. I suppress a yelp.

The man continues. “So I’m here to settle the score. He takes everything from me. I take everything from him. But don’t worry, the whole family is going to join you in hell.”

I turn away, trying to cover my cousins as much as I can with my body. The man is on the verge of laughing and he manages to sputter out, “Bye!”

But the gun never fires. The world around us turns black and the man yells in fear. I hear an angry creak, the sound of something about to collapse. Relying only on my senses, I hoist Hazel and Evan to their feet and rush for the place where the think the door should be. I crash into a large body, probably our attacker, but I push past him.

The darkness recedes and I see the door. I drag Hazel and Evan towards it. But the man behind me can also see and he charges after me. The shed gives one last threatening creak, and I launch us through the doorway. We land in the mud outside. Behind me I hear a loud crash as windows break and the shed collapses. Right after that, I hear a high pitched wail, followedby a low gurgle.

I slowly twist my body to see the remains of the shed. I shriek in absolute terror. Where the door had been, the upper half of the attacker sticks out. His hand is reaching for me, still trying to grab hold of me. But his head is drooped on his shoulder, blood draining from his mouth. The color recedes from his face. The man is dead.

He’s dead, and I killed him.


	4. Resembool

Dad was right, I’m no better than Pride. I stole a life from another person. The agony wells up inside me. I can’t do this anymore, I am just a danger to everyone around me. I’m a walking bomb.

The rain pounding my face punishes me and the slam of the door behind us screams my crime. I hear my Aunt Julia yell in confusion, calling for her children. I notice then that I’m still on top of Hazel and Evan. Instantly, I leap away from them, in fear that I might hurt them, too.

They are crying, reaching for my aunt. I try to back away, but Evan still has a firm grip on my hand. He’s looking away from me, but still clinging to the bind between us.

Aunt May reaches the twins and pulls them towards her. She says, “What happened! Are you all okay?” She looks at me with question utter confusion in her eyes. I can’t speak, I can’t even breathe. Aunt May looks over at the ruins of the shed and see the man dead underneath it.

“Diana…” She croaks. “What happened?”

I don’t respond. Instead I shake Evan’s hand loose and back away, sliding through the muddy ground. When Evan and Hazel look at me, a terrible fear courses through me. Hazel grasps her mother’s shirt. With a feeble voice, she whispers, “The man… he was gonna kill us. Mommy, he was going to kill us. Then it was all black…”

My aunt suddenly realizes. She looks back and forth from me to the body with the beam stuck through it. Terror dawns in her face.

“You…”

My own wave of horror sweeps my consciousness. I can see the shadows around me grow. They threaten to suck up anything around it. I won’t let them touch my family. I couldn’t let them hurt anyone else.

“I…I’m sorry!” My voice is a shaky panic. My feet turn and run, as fast and as far away as I can take myself. I had to get away, I had to keep them safe.

The rain slaps my face to and fro, beating down from the unrelenting sky. I was a fool, thinking I could control it. This was all because I was stupid enough to think I could handle the shadows. Stupid enough to think it was a gift. I can barely see the road that I’m running on, and I don’t dare look back. I just close my eyes and run.

After what seems like an eternity of running, the mud underneath me falls away. I come crashing to the ground, my whole body caked in brown. My clothes are soaked all the way through and the water chills my bones. I can barely breathe and my body aches, but I have to get up, I have to keep moving. Only my fear gives me the strength to stand up.

But before I start running again, the water clears from my eyes. I see a figure through the down pour. A person and they’re coming my way. I try to run again but my exhausted legs refuse to move. The person comes close enough for me to see who it is.

My father steps his way through the rain, and comes up right next to me. “Diana? What the heck are you doing out here?” He’s wearing a large rain coat and a big dark blue umbrella. He steps in closer to me, holding the umbrella over us both. “You soaked and covered in mud. Home is the other way.” He points in the direction he was walking.  “And besides, I came all the way home to celebrate with you, like I promised. It’s not every day that my daughter turns fourteen, is it? Common, Diana, let go home and…. Diana?” He notices the tears streaming down my face, that I refuse to look at him. “Diana, what’s wrong?”

I don’t look up at him, instead I whisper. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry you didn’t have someone else as a daughter. It’s not fair to you.” My voice cracks every other word. “You should have had an alchemist for a kid, instead of someone like me.” My father tries to reach forward to pull me in for a hug, but I step away. Again, I’m in the rain. This time I yell in frustration, “Instead of a girl who marks her day of birth with blood!”

Once again, my legs are forced to move. I leap off the mud road into the grass next to it. Dad calls my name and moves to grab me, but I’m already gone, tearing into the dark field. I can hear my father running behind me, but I know he’ll never catch me. In the rain with an auto mail leg, he was much too slow. After more running, I finally collapse at the first place I find. It had to be this place though. The place I found holds nothing but sorrow and regret.

It was the ruins of my father’s old house, the one they burned to the ground. The remains of old beams and charred rock lay scattered about. Black ash mixed with the mud. This house was a reminder of all the pain and suffering my family had to feel. This is where they crashed and burned, so naturally, this is where I would end up.

I didn’t enter the ruins. Tromping through the water and mud, I came to rest underneath the tree that stood next to it. Looking up at the sky, the clouds were still dark and menacing. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get any farther today. I had no idea what I was doing or what I should do, but it would have to wait for tomorrow. My eyes began to flutter, exhaustion over took me. Slumped against the burned old trunk, my body forced me into sleep.

I dreamed again, still in the darkness, still in the abyss with the creature from the night before. Except this time the words were different. _Take my strength and make it your own. You are the only hope we have._ The beast’s endless voice beckons me once again, but this time, I lash out in anger.

_I don’t want your strength!_ I scream at the darkness. _Take it! You cursed me! Take it away! I refuse to be your hope when I have none of my own!_  

The presence withdraws and the darkness goes with it. Soon I find myself waking up, my eyes peeling open. The rain is still falling, but not as hard as before. I can see through it now. Far off in the distance, I pick out the house, my house, glowing from the lights inside. I don’t know how much time has passed since I ran, but it seems like my family is still looking for me.

I sit up straight, back still against the tree and take a deep breath. Earlier, I had been in a panic and overwhelmed with grief. But the situation still stands and I have to make a decision about what to do next. Going back is out of the question, but sitting here forever isn’t one either. I had nowhere to go, so I have to think of a place. I look around for some form of inspiration. I see the mountain ridge.

I could go to the mountains. There was no one to hurt there, no one could find me either. If anyone ever got close, I would smell them a mile away. Surviving wouldn’t be hard, the river always has fish and in the winters I could always move down closer to the foothills. They weren’t harsh mountains, as a matter of fact, they seem to welcome me into their lonely embrace. I would become the voiceless wind that whistled through the rocks. No one would ever be hurt again.

I stand up, my legs stiff and cramped from sleeping while kneeling. As I pull my wet hair out from under my shirt, I feel a tug. I grasp the string that wraps around my neck. In my palm, the tiny dragon necklace that the twin gave me shines. I sigh deeply, silently wishing that yesterday was nothing but a terrible dream. But it wasn’t, my life could never be the same.

I look over the burnt out foundations of the Elric Brother’s former house. Long ago, these ruins served as a reminder to my father that there was no turning back. This was place for memories that needed to be left behind. I feel in my heart that the necklace must also remain here.

I step in the rectangle of bricks. Standing in the middle of the ruins, I remove the necklace. But right before I place it on the ground, emotion wells up inside of me. Not fear this time, but pain, unbearable sadness that I cannot contain. Tears roll down my face and lungs contract as I let out a sob. I want to let go of the necklace, yet my fingers won’t open. They stay closed around the dragon charm, like Evan’s hand had done to mine before I ran.

The darkness returns, emerging from my natural shadow and growing like a plague. I don’t bother to recall them. I’m helpless against them now.

But as they spread, the world suddenly becomes quiet. The rain is falling, but I can’t hear the patter against the ground. I stop crying for just long enough to realize that the dirt around me is glowing. I am suddenly inside a giant transmutation circle. Somehow, the shadows made it come alive.

I yelp and try to back away, but I can only go as far as the edge of the circle. It trapped me inside. The world around me begins to tremble. My vision becomes fragmented, the green from the fields and the dark gray from the house looking like broken glass. White fills my eyes and I scream louder. Tall black marble doors appear in front of me, carved in lettering I’ve never seen.

I look behind me and I can still see the fields of Resembool. My house is lit, as if trying to call me home. Not so far off, I spy a form running towards me fast. It’s Dad, he’s spotted me. I had wished that I wouldn’t be forced to come face to face with him again. But if I had to choose between seeing my father or meeting whatever is on the other side of that door, I would choose seeing my father.

Turning back to the doors, I try to back up again, but I can’t. It’s as if I’m chained to the doors. The doors slowly open outwards and the noise is like two giant rocks being pulled across each other. Inside is nothing but a black abyss. Hands pour out, clawed hands that reach for me. They are not the shadows that I carry, nothing like them. A scream escapes my lips again, but the hands seize me, digging into my skin.

I look behind me. Dad is almost here, but not close enough. The claws tug me backwards, yanking me towards the abyss. Nothing I do is enough to pull me away from them.

I’m still screaming, high pitched and at the top of my lungs. Dad is a mere ten feet away. I can’t hear him, but his lips read my name.  I reach out for him in a finally attempt at salvation.

The hands give one last tug, strong and short, and my position gives way. The last thing I see is my father’s face filled with fear as I fall into the abyss.


	5. East Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know, I am terrible at editing, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have missed.

My eyes are closed and somehow I’m lying flat on my back. A cloth covers my body. It’s warm and comfortable and I don’t want to move. Everything hurt, my legs, my head and my heart. Breathing requires effort and when I do, the sound is muddled. I know I fell into the abyss, and I fear that if I open my eyes, all I will see is darkness.

But light shines through my eyelids. I can hear a voice nearby whispering to itself. It sounds like a woman’s voice, and old woman I find myself hoping that everything was just a dream and that I’m in my own bed. I pray that the old woman is just someone waiting for an auto mail order, despite her age.

Tentatively I open my eyes. First thing I know is that this is not my bed, not even my house. And based on the ceiling, I’m not even in Resembool. Sweeping upwards in a cone like shape, the top of the room looked like the inside of a house carved out of a tree. It’s green and hanging down are clay pots attached to vines.

I must be dead. I’m dead and I’m in a fantasy world. That’s the simplest solution. The mumbling turns my head. An old woman stands with her back to me, occupying herself with something I can’t see. She wears a long red cape with a collar that rims her whole head, like a Dracula.

I try to sit up, but my head gets dizzy. Moaning, I fall back down. The woman hears me and turns. She’s certainly old, but I can’t tell how old. She looks at me with an almost disgusted face.

“So you’re finally awake, eh?” She says. “You were out for quite a while. And based off what I saw, you went through a rough ordeal.”

I’m don’t know what to say. If her clothes aren’t enough to throw me off, the rest of the house certainly is. I feel like I’m inside a witch’s house.

The woman walks swiftly over to me with a wooden cup in her hand.  She holds it out to me, the cup holds an orange liquid. I mean neon orange, not like orange juice. “Now that you’re awake.” She demands. “You can drink this yourself without me having to force you to.”

I hesitate at first, but then take it, and don’t drink it. Finally I came up with something to say. “Where am I exactly? And who are you? And what do you mean ‘rough ordeal’? What happened to me?”

The woman sighs angrily, as if my questions are annoying. “You certainly know how to get to the point, don’t you? For starters, I am Porlyusica, and this is my house in the East Forest. And, honestly girl, you don’t know what you were doing? Your soul was almost dragged out of your body. That’s what happens when you play with the Gate, child. No one should mess with forces like that. Be happy you escaped with your life!”

Words swirl around in my head. I can’t place anything she’s saying. I’ve never even heard of the East Forest, but I assume it’s near one of the cities near the desert that holds Xerxes. Maybe it was near Ishval or Lior. But they were pretty desert-y towns, not a lot of vegetation. The East Forest was more likely to be near Resembool or Central.

But when she mentioned the Gate, I start to get worried. Dad told me about the Gate and the equivalent exchange that goes with it. When Dad opened the Gate the first time, he lost his arm and leg and Uncle Al’s body. I do a quick check to make sure I had all my limbs. I do, thankfully.

I sigh. “I didn’t mean to open the Gate, in just happened. Then it pulled me in and that’s all I remember. I’m not sure how I wound up here.”

When I look up, Porlyusica is staring at me with confusion plastered all over her face. Her next words are slow. “The Gate opened? What are you saying? People who have seen the Gate have paid for it with their sanity. No one has ever opened the Gate without some evil intent. And how could you have been inside it and returned?”

I don’t know the answers to any of those questions. “All I know is the Gate opened and grabbed me and pulled me in. That’s all I can remember.”

Porlyusica has a hard look on her face as she studies me. “Well if what you say is true, than you must have immense magically talent. Tell me, what type of magic do you practice?”

Again, I am left without a clue. “Magic? Lady are you crazy? There is no such thing as magic. Besides, I’m not even an alchemist.” I’m about to say more, but I quiet down since I don’t want to reveal too much to someone I just met.

The witch lady is staring at me in angry confusion. “Of course there is magic, child! You must have magic to have opened the Gate! And in addition, those who call themselves alchemists are simply wizards who attempt to scam people into buying fake gold. You are not making any sense. Perhaps the Gate did take your sanity.”

I get a little mad. “I have a perfectly sound mind, thank you very much! You’re the one who’s crazy. Seriously, who goes around claiming there’s magic? No one does, except you!”

Porlyusica straightens herself up to toward over me. “You truly believe there is no magic, do you? Then why are there shadows growing all over my walls?”

I look around fast. The shadows were indeed surrounding us, climbing up her walls like spiders. I shrunk back, and the shadows receded with me. I get a new concerned look from the old woman.

“Funny. After seeing your reaction, you might be telling the truth. That really scared you, didn’t it? You don’t know what’s going on.”

Regretfully, I nod my head. She sighs and gestures to the drink in my hand. “Drink that, it’ll help you feel better.”

I figure at this point, I think it's best to just do what she says. I down the drink and it tastes funky. But almost as soon as I drain the last drop, I feel better. I want to ask the old woman for help, since she didn’t seem to be afraid when the shadows flared to life. Maybe she’s met people like me before, or heard of them, at least.

“Can you help me?” I beg. “These shadows always follow me, and I can’t seem to stop them. Are there others like me? Do you think what I have is actually magic?”

She huffs, “Of course it’s magic. I can’t imagine what kind though. And no, child, you are certainly not alone. I have magic, and there are tons of guilds out there with wizards of all sorts. Not that I’m a member of any of them, but you are by far alone in your abilities. I have a hard time believing that you never knew this.”

I am also having a hard time believing anything she is saying. “Wait, guilds? Am I even in Amestris anymore? What country am I in?”

Porlyusica puts her hands on her hips. “I’ve never heard of a country called Amestris, but we are in Fiore.”

My heart stops. I’m not even close to Resembool. Nowhere close to the mountains I decided to call home. She has never even heard of Amestris. A thought suddenly dawned on me, what if this is the other side of the Gate? Is that where I landed?

I breathe in and out slowly, trying to make sense of it all. If this was the other side, than the abyss would be more like a crevice, or a canyon, a void in between. If I crossed it once, could I cross it again?

“Thank you.” I say to her. “For everything, really. But I have to go. I have to get home.”

“And this home is in the country you call Amestris?” She asks. “You might find it hard to get there since we are nowhere near it.”

I sigh and pull the covers off. “Your right, but I have no other choice. I have to get back to…” I stop, realizing that I don’t have anyone to return to. It’s all gone. But Dad saw me go through the Gate. The least I have to do is let him know I’m alive.

“Well, you can’t go wandering off into a world you know nothing about, child.” Porlyusica turns to a crate she has sitting in the corner. “Especially dressed the way you are now. I cleaned you up the best I could, but you’re still covered in mud.”

I look down at my clothes. They are caked in brown dirt and I’m in no condition to step outside the house. “But I don’t have anything else…”

I’m interrupted when Porlyusica plops something in my lap. “Wear this then. I have no use for them and it looks like they’ll fit. Besides, in this country, your clothes would seem very strange.” I don’t understand how a t-shirt and jeans seem weird, but I change anyway. When I finish, Porlyusica directs me to a mirror on the wall. I can’t believe the difference.

I’m wearing a black sleeve-less tunic that’s mid-thigh length with dark leggings and boots. Add on the fact that my hair is black, the only other colors on me was my skin and the decretive sliver on the tunic. Everything about it screams Goth. I look at Porlyusica begging for pity.

“Don’t be silly, child.” She chides me. “You look perfectly normal. This is how people dress. Deal with it.”

I mumble under my breath, “Says the old woman who lives in the woods.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

She huffs again. “One more thing before I kick you out. You’ll need to use that magic of yours.”

The mention of the shadows sends a chill up my back. I’ve spent my whole life keeping a lid on it, and the idea of letting them out willing again makes me woozy. The memory of the man’s cold dead hand reaching for me flashes like fire through my mind. I shake my head viciously.

“I can’t.” I say quickly. “They’re dangerous. I can’t let them hurt people!”

Porlyusica glares down at me. “I’m telling you that you’ll need to use it if you want to get home. I don’t know where you’ve come from but this is a world of magic. And magic is the only way to open or close the Gate. So like it or not, you’ll have to use it to get anywhere.” I look at my boots. I never want to use those shadows again. I let them out willingly before and this is where it landed me.

The old woman must have picked up on my doubt. “You can find help. I might not be of much use to you, but there are others. There’s a guild not far from here, a wizard guild. They have people with powerful magic in their ranks. An old acquaintance of mine is the master. If you go there and ask for Makarov, he will help you.”

I perk up to listen. Any help was welcome, and if there is magic in this world, than perhaps they know how to take it away. My dream might come true and I’ll finally be rid of this curse. “How do I find this guild?”

“The town, Magnolia, is less than a day’s journey from here. Walk west and you’ll find it. Look for their headquarters. The guild is called Fairy Tail.”

Fairy Tail. I like the name already. I’ve spent most of my life reading fantasy books, so the appeal is obvious. “So I’ll head west.” Before heading for the door, I turn to Porlyusica. “Thank you for everything. I’ll pay you back somehow.”

“You’ll do no such thing! I don’t want to see you here again.” She scolds me. “I don’t like company!”

I jump back a little. Clearly this old lady has some serious mood swings. “Alright! I won’t bother you again!” I walk quickly to the door.

“Wait.”

I look back and Porlyusica is shuffling through a few trinkets on her desk. She strolls over to me and holds out an item. It’s my dragon necklace, the one I was going to leave at the ruins.

“This was in your hand when I found you.” She explained. “You were grasping it so tightly, it must mean something important to you.”

I take it from her and stare at it. Tears threaten to burst from my eyes. I vow not to let it go until I’m back in Resembool. I put the necklace on.

“Now get out of here!” The crone yells at me again. I almost fall down the steps leading out of her house. Porlyusica shoos me away. “I’ve listened to you babble on long enough! Get going!” I take off, running through the forest before the witch tries to bake me in a stew.

But Porlyusica calls angrily to me, “West is the other way!” and my adventure begins.


	6. East Forest

This place is weirder than any world I’ve ever conceived. If I took all the madness from every novel ever and put them together, it wouldn’t come close to my current surroundings.

Once I started in the right direction, I discover a path that must lead straight towards the town of Magnolia. But despite my efforts to stay true to my course, there was a million distractions. Mushrooms that sport neon colors, probably all poisonous, litter the ground as I hike on. Small creatures that look like reptilian chipmunks scurry across the trail. Every time one pops up, I squeak in surprise.

After what seems like hours of walking, I hear a rustle in the bushes next to me. I back away quickly and prepare to face whatever is about to emerge. A dinosaur prowls out of the shrubs. It appears to be a pink stegosaurs, with the back plates a variety of colors. Three of them waddle their way onto the path, give me a tired look, then disappear into the foliage on the other side. I sigh in relief. But without warning, I hear a drunken chuckle behind me.

In a flash, I’m backed against the bush that the dinosaurs had come from. Where I was standing, a giant gorilla with a creepy grin smiles at me. Except this gorilla is light green, with pink hearts lining his arms. He’s way taller than me and really muscly. But something about him makes chills run up and down my spine.

“You pretty.”

Stunned, I respond the best I can. “What?”

The gorilla points his long sausage finger at me and repeats, “You pretty.” Then, “Me want you.”

I realize now why I’m getting chills. This guy was not only a wild animal, but also a creep. “No thanks, I’m good.” I try to inch my way down the trail in hopes of a quick escape.

But the green wierdo is two steps ahead of me. “No! You mine now! Me have you!” He reaches out with both hands to grab me. He lunges.

I yell in panic and dive out of the way. The monster flies past me and lands with his head in the bushes. I take that time to run, as fast as I possibly can.

“You’re a creep, monkey!” I call behind me. I know it won’t help me in any way, but I can’t help it. The gorilla pulls himself out of the bush and comes after me again. He may be stupid and clumsy, but fast. The distance between us is closing quickly.

“Me got you!” He yells, with a drunk smile. His hand is about to grab me.

But right before he reaches me, a purple flash of light flies from in front of me and wizzes past my head. It hit the monkey man right in the face and topples him over. I look behind me just in time to see him fall.

“Hey, lady, over here!” A human voice calls. I spot a boy a few meters in front of me. He’s young, maybe 6 or 7, and dark hair sticks out from his head in crazy directions. His eyes are trained on my pursuer.

I catch up to him and stop, panting. “Thanks, kid.” I say between breaths. “How’d you do that?”

He holds up his index finger. A purple haze surrounds it. “Magic. My dad taught me some, but I’m not all that good. Still it was enough to beat…” He trailed off, the monster was getting back up.

“What is that?” I ask. “A chimera?”

The kids looks at me funny. “Uh, no? That’s a woodland Vulcan. My dad warned me about this one. He tends to prowl around the edges of the forest.”

The edge of the forest. That means I’m close to Magnolia. But I first have to get away from this Vulcan monkey. Judging on how little damage this kid’s magic, this would be difficult. The gorilla chuckles again, but this time, he’s staring at the boy next to me.

“You hurt me.” He mumbles out. “Me now hurt you and take pretty lady.” My cold shutters return and I grimace at the creature.

The boy takes a fighting stance. “Get out of here,” he orders me. “I’ll buy you some time.” His jaw is set and his hands are curled into fists. The purple haze glows around his hands. This is magic, it’s actually real.

Despite his command, I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you here alone, kid. We’ll take his thing down together.” I may not be an alchemist, but my dad taught me hand to hand combat. I’m not about to back down. At first, the boy looks like he’s going to argue with me, but he stays quiet.

The Vulcan rushes at us.  With lightning reflexes, the kid moves fast, jumping up high and coming down with his fist outstretched. He connects with the Vulcan’s skull and the monkey gets a face full of dirt. But just as fast, he gets back up and swings his massive arm at the kid. The monster hits him and sends him flying away into a tree. The kid is stuck hanging from his shirt on a branch. The monkey turns to him.

“I finish you first, then take the lady.” He announces. The gorilla goes for him.

But I won’t let the brute near him. Right before he reaches him, I leap in the way. With as much strength as I can muster, I swing a kick hard into the monster’s side.

I connect, but so do my shadows. They burst around my leg and propel my attack harder into the monkey’s side. Even though the gorilla is way more than twice my weight, he flies farther than the kid did. The monster crashes into the tree and lays there, dazed.

When I stop, I stare in horror at the ground. The shadows came, they just came up. They’ve never done that before. Instead they always appeared whenever I was scared of sad. But magic was all around us here, they affects must be more potent in this world. Thankfully, the Vulcan doesn’t try again. He runs off, disappearing into the forest. Behind me, I hear the kid free himself from the tree.

But the kid doesn’t run away like I was expecting him to. He doesn’t even look scared. The boy walks right up to me and looks up with awe in his eyes. “That was so cool.” He yells in amazement, taking me completely off guard. “You beat that Vulcan with one kick! How come you didn’t do that before? If you have such powerful magic, why not waste the guy real fast and be done with it?”

I’m not sure how to respond, so I do honestly. “I can’t control it.” I admit. “Besides, it can be dangerous.”

He puts his hands on his hips in a firm position. “Well it looked pretty cool to me. It’s too bad that you can’t control it.” He looks away. “Where are you headed, anyway? Are you going to Magnolia?” I nod and he smiles. “Cool, that’s where I live! I’m part of Fairy Tail!”

The way he says it, it’s like he’s been bestowed a medal of honor. But if he is in Fairy Tail, than he can take me to see Makarov.

“I’m actually looking for someone in Fairy Tail.” I inform him. “I was told they can help me. Makarov? He’s the master, right?”

The kid nods. “Yea! I can take you there, I’m sure he’ll help you. You saved me after all.”

“After you saved me.”

But he brushes that off. “Only a little. I’m Romeo Conbolt. What’s your name?”

“Diana Elric.”

“Cool.” Romeo says. “This way to Fairy Tail. It’s not far.”

It feels a little strange. That was the first time I had introduced myself without someone asking if I was Edward Elric’s daughter. They always got way to close to me after that, begging for information, whether I was an alchemist and why I stayed out of public view. Romeo didn’t even recognize the name, he didn’t know anything about me other than I now hate monkeys. It feels pretty nice.


	7. Magnolia

Magnolia is a beautiful town. I’ve been to small towns before, markets and other places around Resembool. But I had never been to a city and I am amazed. Romeo leads me through bustling streets, with stalls and people selling fabulous wares. Everyone is so bright and cheery, the effects calm my erratic pulsing nerves. Even so, my heart speeds up with excitement.

“Wow.” I exclaim and Romeo glances at me.

“Have you ever been to a city?” He asks.

I shake my head. “Not like this. This place is amazing.”

Romeo smiles, “Magnolia is a great place to live, but the best part about it is my guild, Fairy Tail. We are the best wizard guild anywhere.”

I certainly hope so. As we stroll through the cobbled streets, I spot a stall selling items I’ve can’t understand, keys and gloves and other various items. “What’s that stall sell?”

Romeo looks where I am pointing. “Oh, that’s a magic stall. You can buy items that help boost your magic or potions that do all kinds of different things. If you take an object with you, sometimes they’ll enchant it.” Magic again. It appears to be all over in this world. I can’t even fathom how I came to possess the abilities they have. Something inside me feels warm, like the magic was somehow cleansing me.

Romeo leads me through the rest of town, and in a few minutes, we are standing at the doors of a small castle. The gray stone rises up in the sky and the words ‘Fairy Tail’ is hung from the ach above. A symbol between two towers of the castle looks like a fairy sprinting. It isn’t hard to guess that this place is the guild I’ve been looking for. Romeo opens one of the doors and motions me inside.

Inside is even more fantastic than the outside. The hall is huge. More tables and chairs than could fit in a ball room  scattered about and at the back of the hall, a food counter lines the wall with tons of bottles of wine and classy food. But the most incredible part is the people.

There are so many. People all dressed in extravagant colors mingle through the hall, talking, drinking and telling stories. And there is magic everywhere. An enormous man with curly red hair sits in the corner painting, and the creatures he paints are coming off the canvas and become real. At a table to my right, a man with crazy hair was smoking a pipe, but the smoke was holding his beer glass for him.

And there are a lot of kids my age. A girl who looks only a little older than me sat on a bench of the table, looking dreamily off into the distance. She’s dress in all blue with long blue hair to match. She seemed completely oblivious to everything around her. Sitting across from her is a girl probably my age with her hear buried deep in a book. But everyone seems ecstatic to be here. And they all have a tattoo, the symbol of the guild.

Romeo grabs my hand and pulls me to the back where the bar is. Behind the counter is a beautiful woman with silver hair. Sitting on the counter itself was a tiny old man, dressed in orange. He’s got a mustache that hides his mouth, but you can still tell underneath that he’s smiling. Romeo approaches him with me right behind.

“Hey, Gramps!” Romeo calls. “This is Diana! She’s been looking for you!”

Gramps looks me over. His eyes are bright and there is a twinkle of mischief behind them. “Oh, so you’ve met our young Romeo have you? I’m the guild master Makarov. Pleased to meet you!”

I smile. He is much nicer than all the other old men I’ve met. Roy Mustang isn’t really old yet, but he has several years on my father, which makes him old. And he’s grumpy. But you wouldn’t catch me dead saying that out loud.

“I’m Diana Elric.” I introduce myself. “Porlyusica said that you could help me.”

Makarov grins. “Ha! If you’ve managed to get that grump to give you advice, you must be a really likeable person. She hates almost everyone she meets.”

“She did chase me out of her house.”

The old man snorts with laughter. “Sounds like her. What can I help you with?”

“Well…” I say nervously, looking around. “It’s kind of a delicate situation…”

“No worries.” Makarov says quickly. “We can talk in my office. This way. It’s upstairs.” He hops off the counter and I follow him to the steps in the corner of the room. We ascend the stairs up to the top floor. It rims the walls of the hall, so if you look down, you can see everyone below. At the top of the steps, Makarov opens a door and enters.

It’s pretty roomy for and office, but it seems to fit the tiny man well. Large windows form the back wall of the room and bookshelves border the rest of wall space. Makarov sits behind a desk in the middle of the room, his back to the windows. He holds out a hand in an indication for me to sit in the chair opposite from his desk.

“So please tell me what I can do.” He says. There is friendliness in his voice but also a firm seriousness. That makes me feel a bit better.

“Well, sir.” I start. “I’m far away from home and no way to get there. And I top of that, I have magic I can’t control.”

The old man is interested. “Magic you can’t control? How long have you had this magic? What kind of magic is it?”

I grimace. “I’ve had it since birth, as far as I know. But I have no idea what kind of magic it is. Shadows, it involves shadows. Every time I get emotional, or if my life is in danger, they come out. They can be really destructive.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place. Fairy Tail tends to specialize in destructive magic.” He gives me a playful grin. “Shadows can be a lot of things so we need to narrow it down a bit. Maybe where you are from will help give us a few clues.”

“That’s another problem.” I sigh. “Porlyusica had never even heard of my home country. It’s called Amestris.”

Makarov gets a puzzled look on his face. “She’s right, I’ve never heard of such a place. And I’m gonna guess that you don’t know how you got here, either.”

“I have a few theories, but no real proof of anything.”

“Why don’t you start from the top?”

So I do. I try to explain as best I can. I start with Resembool, my abilities never under control and constantly causing trouble. I skip the accident, it is too painful and terrifying to recall, and move on to the part where the Gate opens and drags me in. I finish up with the Vulcan fight and meeting Romeo.

Makarov is stroking his mustache, deep in thought. Silently, I wait for him to speak.

When he does, his voice is filled with uncertainty. “This is truly an interesting situation. Not only did your power open the Gate, you were pulled into it and landed here. What could all this mean?”

“Sir, if I may,” I interject. “I believe that I was on one side of the Gate, and this is the other side. That explains why you’ve never heard of my country and mine is so different form yours.”

“Yes.” He agrees. “This alchemy you spoke of, it’s different from our magic. It appears to be more bound to science than the laws of this world. But how did you get magic if you are born on the other side? Has there been any involvement with the Gate before this incident?”

I nod. “My father dealt with the Gate a lot before I was born. But he hadn’t touched anything with it for years, so why would it act up now?”

“I don’t know.” Makarov admits. “I know I’m asking a lot, but do you think you could show me some of your magic. So I know what I’m dealing with a little more clearly.”

I don’t want to summon the shadows, but for the sake of getting home, I get up out of my chair. And back away from the desk. Like I had before that night after my dream, I will the shadows to my hand. Much like Romeo’s magic had done, the shadows engulf my fist. They dance around my ridged fingers as if in a play.

“I see.” The old man nods. “You do have fairly odd magic abilities. This is beyond my skills at identifying, but if we know what you have, it may be crucial to getting you home. You may have to see a magic classifier. They specialize in understanding magic.”

My heart droops, I’d have to wait longer to get home. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I had a feeling that this guild master could truly help me.

But Makarov isn’t done yet. “The best is a long journey away, and I don’t expect you to go alone. I’ll send some of our members to help you out.”

This is unexpected. I never thought that I’d have an escort. “Really there isn’t a need for that. Besides, my magic is dangerous. It might be best if you just gave me directions.”

The old man gives me a wry look. “In a strange land that you’ve never been to, filled with unfamiliar magic and creatures. No offense to your abilities, but there are some dangerous people in this world, too. I won’t rest easy without knowing that I sent someone with you. Besides,” he slyly smiles. “My guild tends to love adventures.”

I never thought of the journey I had to go on as an adventure. But then again, I’m pretty sure that many of my heroes from the books didn’t think of their journey as an adventure. But they were adventures, that why I read them.

“But…” I try to come up with a valid excuse, any excuse. I fall short and give in.

“Alright.” Makarov exclaims. “Let’s see what we can do.”


	8. Magnolia

Makarov must have a few specific people he wanted to send with me because I was sitting and the counter with Romeo. The old man had told me that he wanted to check things out and disappeared into a hallway in the back. Mirajane, the pretty, silver haired woman from earlier, told me that he was probably in the library doing his own research.

“You all are so nice here.” When speaking to Mirajane it’s almost impossible not to make an effort to be polite. She seemed like the last person you would want to be mean to.

She smiles. “That’s Fairy Tail. We seem rough on the outside, but if you catch us when nobody’s looking, you’ll find that we all treat each other like family.”

I look around the room again. This time there are a few other guild members. One young woman, in only pants and a bikini top was downing several gallons of beer. She seems to know how to hold it though. Meanwhile across the room, a girl that looked really similar to Mirajane was having a conversation with a huge brute of a man. I ask Mirajane, “Is this all of the guild members? Seems like a big headquarter for this man people.”

Romeo shakes his head. “No. This is only a few. Most of them are out on jobs. The really rowdy ones aren’t here right now.”

Mirajane nods her head in agreement. “Yes. They’re the reason the guild hall is so big. Otherwise we’d have to rebuild it all the time. But if you’re lucky, they’ll be back before Master Makarov sends you out.”

At the mention of his name, the old man returns from the library. He hopes up onto the counter and places an old scroll out in front of us. “He’s what I’ve found while in the archives.” Delicately, the scroll is rolled open. “I’ve tried to limit where you got your abilities. First I narrowed it down to only a few types of magic that involve the specific traits that your shadows possess. Then, I attempted to see which kinds of magic were connected to mentions of the Gate. But research on the Gate is fairly new and if any involvement with it happened before, it is lost to time. So this list is as far as I got. Take it with you to show the magic classifier.” I looked at the names listed but none of the words meant anything to me.

 Makarov continues. “I dug up his name, Ajihad and he lives in one of the border towns of Bosco, the country next to Fiore. He’ll be able to give us as accurate assessment of your power.”

I nod but Romeo buts in. “Who are you picking to go with her? She needs an escort, right? Can I go?”

Makarov laughs. “You, a six year old boy? No Romeo, the journey will take them through some dangerous places. I’m sending only those who can protect themselves and others. Try practicing your magic, then I’ll think about letting you do things like this.” Romeo huffs but doesn’t protest.

“But he did ask a good question.” Mirajane interjects. “Who are you sending?”

The old man smiles. “Oh, they’ll be back shortly.”

Almost on cue, the front doors fly open but all you can see is a dust cloud. But I hear voices, and they’re loud.

“Alllllrrrrright!” A boy’s voice yells. “Fairy Tail’s strongest team finally completed a mission, AND got paid for it!”

Mirajane gives a half smile and mutters, “There’s a first.”

The dust cloud settles down. Before me, four crazy looking teenagers stand triumphant. They waltz in and people turn their heads to watch. These guys seem like a big deal.

The girl in all blue instantly perks up. She flies to one of them, a guy with black hair and a t-shirt. He half ignores her, but she is incessant. “Oh, Gray, my darling, you accomplished your mission and return tome unharmed! I’m so glad!”

“What?” He asks finally noticing her. “Oh hi, Juvia.”

I turn away from them and look towards the rest. A tall girl in armor approaches the counter. She doesn’t seem to notice me at all. Instead she sits down in a stool and leans to Mira. “Alright, the mission didn’t fail even though we brought Natsu.  I win the bet, now give me what you own me.”

Mira laughs out loud. “Fine, Erza. You win, I’ll get your cake.” Mira turns away.

Finally, the girl named Erza looks at me. She is a bit surprised. “Oh. I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m Erza Scarlet. Are you new to guild? What’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Diana Elric.” I answer quickly. “I’m not part of the guild, I was sent here. I was told your master could help me.”

Erza nods. “Well nice to meet you. I hope we can help you. What is it that you need help with?”

Makarov chose to answer. “Actually Erza, I wanted to talk to you about that. See young Diana here…” But he never got to finish his sentence.

A girl launches herself into the conversation. They are the other two who came in. The girl is the first to talk. “Oh are you new to Fairy Tail? Ever since Edolas, there’s been so many new members, I have a hard time meeting them all. I’m Lucy.”

At first, I find it hard to respond. She looks so much like my mother, I’m in shock. Lucy is blonde and the way she smiles is almost identical to Mom. After a few seconds of recoil, I respond. “Uh, no. I’m here for help. I’m kinda…. Lost.”

Lucy takes a second to process, then smiles. “Oh! We’ll if you need great wizards this is the place to go!”

Makarov sighs. “Speaking of that, I need to talk to all of you.” Lucy and Erza turn to him. With their attention, he continues, “This is Diana Elric, and Porlyusica sent her here for guidance. I’m going to send you and the other two on your team to help her out. I’d like to explain with everyone.”

“I’ll get them.” Lucy volunteers and rushes off. I see her talk to the boy named Gray. Romeo slips away and disappears. After looking around for a second or two, Lucy returns with Gray. “I can’t find our more excitable member, but I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

Makarov, shrugs his shoulders. “Fine, I’ll start without him.” Makarov starts to explain. He leaves a lot out, such as the Gate, and my theory of the other side. They only thing he tells them is that’s I’m far away from home and figuring out what kind of magic I process is key to getting me home.

“So,” Lucy asks. “You have powers that you can’t control and we don’t know what they are?”

I nod. “That about sums it up. I’ve had them since birth.”

“That kind of sucks.” This is the first time Gray talked to me. “But, hey, if we can help, than you bet we will.” I smile at him in thanks.

“Looks like we’ve got a real mystery in our hands.” Erza concludes. “And we have to travel through the mountains on the border of Bosco. They are filled to the brim with mountain Vulcans. And bandits. I can see why you picked us for this quest, Master.”

Suddenly, I feel a presence behind me. In a split second, I hear a dragon like roar. “A quest! Let’s do it!”

Whoever it is behind me scared me half to death. I yelp and fall out of my chair. Instantly, the area around gets a little darker. Any shadow nearby reaches towards me. Soon, I’m covered is the black haze I so fear. My eyes are closed, and I don’t want them to open. If I do, I’ll see the terrified faces of everyone in the guild hall. Next I’ll be thrown out for endangering the unfortunate person who had pranked me. It was over.

But instead, I hear, “Whoa! Cool!” from above me. I dare to open my eyes.

Looming over me, a pink haired teenager grins as he gazes down. He holds out a hand, not even caring about the black magic dancing around me. I notice the Fairy Tail symbol on his right shoulder. Cautiously, I take his hand. He pulls me up from the floor with ease.

“That’s some wild magic!” I recognize his voice from earlier. He was the one who shouted when the team had walked in. I can see he’s pretty muscular, since his dark blue shirt only has a sleeve down one side. Another thing, he has a white scarf with a reptilian pattern. The guy seems pretty nice, but something about him made me happy he wasn’t my enemy. I get the feeling he’s one of Fairy Tail’s most powerful wizards.

Once I was up, he lets go of my hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but it was worth it. You magic looks awesome! We’re gonna have a great time figuring it out!”

This is the first time someone witnessed the shadows and then complemented me on them. He wasn’t even a little scared. When Makarov had seen it, he looked at it as a puzzle, a mystery to be solved. But there was nothing except pure joy in the new-comer’s face.

“I’m Natsu!” The boy says. “Romeo told me you’re looking for wizards for a quest! Count me in.”

I’m all out of sorts from my unexpected surprise. “Uh, I...” but I don’t get to finish. My mouth stops moving when I spot what’s flying above him. It’s a flying cat. A blue flying cat with white wings.

“Oh, and that’s Happy,” Natsu explains. “He’ll come, too!”

“Aye, sir!” The cat, Happy, yells in response. The cat, the blue flying cat, is actually a _talking_ blue flying cat. Just when I thought I was getting a handle on the whole magic thing, this happens.

“Uh,” I try again. “Hi…. I’m Diana. I appreciate all the help I can get.”

Natsu grins. His smile seems to light up the whole room. Not even the shadows can stave him off. “Alright! We’ll show you how we get things done, Fairy Tail style!”


	9. East Forest

The next morning, we are getting ready to leave. We decided to meet at the guild hall right after the sun rose, so I slept at the hall itself. No one stopped me, how could they when a few of their own members had passed out on the benches lining the room. I have literally nothing with me except the clothes given to me by Porlyusica. When I’m asked by Erza what I’d be bringing with me, I shrug. “I don’t really have anything.”

I have never gotten such baffled look as the one I receive now. In a few seconds, Erza is handing me a backpack with everything one could need on a long distance trip. Where she got them, I have no idea, but I am grateful.

Just as everyone is prepared to leave, Gray looks out the door. “That idiot is late, we should just leave without him.”

“Oh yea!” Natsu comes racing around the corner. “You want to say that to my face, Frosty?” I don’t understand why Gray was “Frosty’ but no one calls Natsu out on it.

“Were gonna leave without you, lizard brain!” Gray retorts back. “You call this arriving on time?”

“We had to grab some fish!” Happy floats in behind Natsu, putting me in wonder once again. “You can’t really catch fish in the mountains!”

Lucy rolls her eyes. “Wow, we haven’t even left yet, and they’re already at it.” We watch as Erza pulls the two apart and practically tosses them out the door. Lucy follows and I fall in behind her. I look back at the guild hall. Everyone is smiling and waving their friends good-bye. Lucy calls to them. “We’ll be back soon. Keep the guild hall standing until then!” And she turns away, and I wonder what she means. I guess there are still a few rowdy members that aren’t going with me. We make our way out of Magnolia, and into the woods. We’re in the East Forest in only a few minutes. I remember the Vulcan and shiver. I really don’t want to run into him.

Lucy appears beside me. “So, I heard that you found Romeo in here. He told me you not a half bad wizard.”

I sadly smile. “Well, it was an accident and I never try to use the shadows. As you saw last night, they’re not as great as he makes them sound.”

Lucy shakes her head. “Don’t be silly, I saw your magic. It’s not anything to be ashamed of. Once you learn to control them, you’ll do fine.”

I give her a doubting look. “I don’t think controlling them is going to happen. Once we meet this Ajihad person, and I find a way home, I’m going to rid myself of magic. I never asked for this.”

Lucy is shocked. “But, magic is great. I don’t know where I’d be without it. Fairy Tail is a great example! Everyone has a special magic talent and we share memories together. Magic brings people together.”

“Or tears them apart.” I mumble. The terrible image of the vengeful man with a wooden beam stuck through him makes cold chills ripple down my whole body. I try to get it out my head, with little success.

Lucy gives me a worried look. “What do you mean?”

I look away. “Let’s just say that I’ve seen what magic can do to people, and sometimes it does horrible things. I don’t want my magic, I never did, so if I can, I’d like to take a heavy burden off my shoulders.”

Lucy goes quiet. I feel bad about putting down something she’s so fond of. I try to avert the conversation. “What about you? What’s your magic?”

She lights up almost instantly. “I’m a celestial wizard. I’ve got a lot of great spirits. They all are amazing.”

Half the words she said, I don’t understand. In attempts to grasp the concept, I ask stupidly. “Um, do you think you could explain that one to me? Because there isn’t a lot of magic where I’m from and I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.” I’m incredible smooth about it, obviously, yet I still get an eyebrow raised at me.

“Really?” Lucy stammers. “Wow, okay. Here let me explain.” We walk for a while as she explained her magic to me. After I finally have a small understanding, she goes on to explain the others magic. Gray is an ice wizard, so I suddenly get Natsu’s ‘Frosty’ comment from earlier. Erza can change her armor into an insane amount of other getups, all dangerous in their own way. Honestly, I would die to see her do it.

But when Lucy started to explain Natsu’s magic, things get really weird. “You mean he was raised by a dragon? He can, like, shoot fire from his mouth and stuff!”

Lucy giggles. “Yea, that’s Natsu. He can eat fire, too, so don’t think he’s in trouble every time someone tries to incinerate him. I think he actually likes it.”

I can barely believe it, even after seeing the flying talking cat. “Wow.” Is all I can get out. Magic here is amazing. I wish that I had the powers they did.

From out in front of us, Happy floats back. “So, is this like your first quest ever, Diana?” I nod. It’s my first conversation with a cat too, but I don’t say that. Happy looks as happy as his name. “So I was wondering, is there a lot of yummy fish where you’re from? Can you send me some once you get home?”

Happy gets a disapproving look from Gray. “Seriously? One of the first things you ask the girl is if she’ll send you fish? Common, Happy.”

Natsu jumps to defend his friend. “Hey, Happy was just trying to be nice. What’s wrong with a little friendly conversation?”

I almost laugh. “Well, Happy, I’ll do my best. But we don’t have a very large variety of fish. We’re kinda a land locked country.”

Happy is sad, but Erza cuts in. “Besides, you don’t want to have anything like those wing fish again, do you?” All the wizards around me slouch a little with grim faces. Apparently, wing fish is a bad memory. I don’t ask.

Natsu falls into step beside me. “So what is your country like? It must be really different.” He has no idea.

“Yea, a lot.” I agree. “We have stuff you don’t and you have stuff we don’t. We don’t have guilds or magic. But I haven’t really seen much of Amestris, I only lived in an area called Resembool. That’s where I grew up.”

All of the others are as stunned as Lucy was. “No magic?” Erza asks. “You’re not from Edolas though. That’s crazy.”

I shrug. “That’s why I was kind of an oddball there. Magic was really foreign and no one really knew what to do with me.”

“But how do you, you know, have magic if no else one had it?” Gray asks. “How did get it in the first place?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” I sigh. “Everyone in my family tried to help, but they were as clueless as I am.”

“I bet you miss your family.” Lucy said. “I bet they are going crazy looking for you.”

If they don’t think I’m dead, probably. But I can’t say that without them asking why. So I respond the best I can. “I guess so. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I go home. Maybe I’ll finally be able to live in peace.”

The others smile and nod, but Lucy looks sad. She remembers what I told her before about getting rid of my magic. She knows what I really mean. I don’t say anything to her, instead we keep walking.

Just as night falls, we make it to the base of a huge mountain range. It reminds me of our mountains back in Resembool and all the memories I have there. Erza sets up camp, while Natsu and Gray go looking for something to eat. Lucy and I work to get a fire going. She comes up with an armful of sticks and kindling. She places them beside me.

“You really know what you’re doing.” Lucy is looking at my fire, just as the flames flicker to life. “I thought we were going to have to wait until Natsu gets back.”

I smile shyly. “Back in Resembool, there’s some woods near my house. Sometimes I would spend the whole night out there alone. I taught myself how to make fires and build forts out of sticks. It just felt good to be able to take care of myself.”

Lucy doesn’t look at me, staring at the tiny fire with a distanced look. After a few moments, she speaks, keeping her voice low. “You stay away from your family all night? Don’t they get worried?”

I turn away from her and also gaze into the fire. “Of course they do, but honestly, I think I make them more worried when I’m around. Besides, I always come back. Eventually.”

I feel Lucy’s eyes on me. “Because of your magic. They’re scared of it. That’s why you stay away. That’s why you want it gone.”

My shoulders sag. “Yes.” I whisper. “It scares them, it scares me. Every time the shadows come, I can see fear in my father’s face. I’m pretty sure that I remind his of one of his old enemies, and a bad one. If my magic is gone, then I’ll never have to see that look again. It’s just better that way.”

Lucy doesn’t say anything. Instead she stands up and reaches for a pouch on her waist. From the pouch, she pulls out a key. Its sliver surface shines in the firelight. Lucy holds it out in front of her and she speaks clearly into the night. “Open, Gate of the Canis Minor! Plu!”

A bright light flashes from the key and blinds me for a second. When it recedes, standing in front of me is a tiny white creature with a carrot looking nose. It sort of reminds me of a snow man. Lucy kneels down beside the creature.

“This is Plu.” She explains. “He’s one of my Celestial spirits.” Amazed, I tentatively reach out to him. Plu puts his hand out and we touch. As if I don’t actually believe it, I feel surprised when my fingers contact his soft warm skin. I pull my hand back to my chest. Lucy just made a creature appear out of thin air. With nothing but a key.

“He helps me whenever I’m in trouble.” Lucy holds up a ring, filled with silver and gold keys. “Him and many others. All of them are great friends. I’d be lost without them. And every single one can only be summoned with magic. But, Diana,” Lucy looks at me with fierce determination. “You spent your whole life keeping you magic down. Maybe, if you gave it a chance, you’ll learn to love it as much as I do. As much as any of us do.” I don’t know what to say. My heart aches to believe her. At that moment, I want magic to be a part of my life.

But memories flood my thoughts. I remember what happened, I let them out, the shadows, and I let them control me. And as soon as I did, someone died. I shut down the desire to bring out the shadows. I shake my head. “I can’t, Lucy. My magic isn’t your magic. It’s different. It’s too dangerous.”

Lucy backs off, but she doesn’t withdraw Plu. He climbs up into her lap and she puts her arms around him as he sits there. A silence fills the area. Only when the boys return is the quiet broken. The conversation is brushed off with their arrival. But all through the remainder of the night, I am plagued by doubt that I can’t seem to get rid of.


	10. East Forest

On the one night when I don’t have any nightmares, it ends too soon. Everyone sleep is shattered by a scream. I bolt upright and the sleeping bag next to shakes as Lucy attempts to get herself out of it. Erza is already outside, although how she had do it so fast, I’ll never know.

Lucy and I made it outside just in time to see Natsu, Gray and Happy rise. Another yell echoes through the woods. Natsu takes off without a word, Happy right behind him. Gray turns to us. “Split up, find out what’s going on.”

Erza hurries off in one direction, calling behind her, “Lucy. You take Diana, stick together.”

No words need to be said as we run through the woods. I’m worried for a few moments that we might run into someone bad, but then I remember Lucy’s keys. She said she had spirits to help her so my fear lessens a bit. Again, we hear a scream. It sounds closer and I’m able to pick out that the voice is a girl. We both run toward the sound. The screaming stops, but a smell hits my nose. It smells like that Vulcan creep, and I can guess that he’s the one causing the trouble.

“This way!” I call to Lucy and follow my nose. Soon, I see the brutes hulking green back. When we’re close, we stop and I yell out. “Hey!”

The Vulcan turns around. Just by the smell, I can tell it’s the same one that Romeo and I met in the woods. My eyebrows narrow and I frown. In this hand, the brute had a small cat with wings, like Happy. She’s a rusty red and her eyes are wide with terror.

I expect a fight, but the monkey takes one glance at me and backs off, clearly remembering the outcome of the last fight. “You. Bad pretty woman!”

Lucy is baffled. “What?” She looks at me. “What does he mean?”

But I am too focused on saving the cat in his gorilla hands to answer. “Let her go!” I yell him. “Let her go now!”

At first, the Vulcan looks hesitant. He glances from me to the cat. In one final attempt, I growl at him as fiercely as I can. “Let her go, or I’ll beat you again! Do you remember that?” My voice is a lot more confident than I feel. But it works, and the Vulcan drops that cat on the ground.

“No hurt me!” he pleads. “Stay away, bad pretty woman!”

I glare at him, some unknown calm driving me on. “You get out of here now, and don’t you dare attack anyone anymore. Or I will take you down again. Now go!”

Within a second, a puff of dust is the only thing marking where the Vulcan was standing. I run up to the cat, who is struggling to pick herself out of the dirt.

“Thank you so much.” She groaned, her arms shake under her own weight. She collapses back on the ground.

“Let me help you.” I demand. “You need rest and probably some medicine.”

The rusty colored cat nods and I pick her up delicately in my arms. She smiles at me weakly, “Thank you so much. That horrible brute got me when I wasn’t paying attention. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t save me.” Her voice is smooth and velvety.

I blush. “Well, it wasn’t really much. I had a run in with that guy before and he must have remembered. Really it was all luck.”

“Then I’m indebted to your luck.” She closes her eyes as if something momentarily hurt. They slowly open again. “I’m Kilala. What’s your name?”

“Diana.” I tell her. “And really you’re not indebted to me. Any decent person would have…” But she fell asleep before I could finish my sentence.

Back at camp, we do our best to tend to her injuries. Once all the bandages were finished and she had rest, Kilala wakes up. She’s much more energetic than before. “I’m all better! I haven’t felt this great since Edolas! Thank you!”

I remember Erza had mentioned Edolas before, but I don’t ask about it. “Well it was the least we could do. I’m just glad you feel better.”

Kilala flies down to me, hovering near my face. “I have to pay you back somehow! Please, what can I do?”

I put up my hands. “There’s no need, really. I didn’t do much. Besides, I don’t need anything. These guys are helping me out. We’re traveling to a town in Bosco on the other side of the mountains.”

Happy flies up next to Kilala. “She needs to get home and we’re going to see a magic specialist who can help.” Kilala seems interested, so Happy continues. “I’m glad we ran into another Exceed. Where are you going, anyway?”

Kilala shrugs. “Nowhere! Once we left Edolas, I’ve been looking everywhere to find my purpose. And now I know what it is!” We all look up expectantly. Kilala points her paw at me. “To help you!”

“What?”

“I’m going to help you get home!” She repeats. “It’s the least I can do.”  She is copying me. “I’m going to help you achieve your victory, and that’s how I’ll pay you back! One can never have too many Exceeds!”

I assume Exceeds are what Happy and Kilala are, but I am still stunned. “But, it could be dangerous!” I protest. “And I’m sure that you have places to be, family to go home to!”

Kilala shakes her head. “I told you, I don’t have anywhere to go and nowhere to go back to. Please let me come! I want to have an adventure with you!”

There is that word again, adventure. The journey I am on, do I consider it an adventure? I guess I’ll have to find out. I sigh. “If it’s okay with them, I have no problem with you coming.” I look back at my escort. They nod their heads enthusiastically. Kilala is as happy as Happy.

We break camp fast and head up into the mountains. They’re taller than the ones bordering Resembool, snow at their peaks and steep inclines make for tough travel. But chatting to Kilala made the hike easier. Once in a while, Natsu or Happy would say something hilarious and I couldn’t help but laugh. By mid-day, we’re deep in the mountains, but it seems like the trip was shorter. Something inside me began to believe that this was an adventure.

We hike for a while, encountering little resistance. Even though Makarov told us that the mountains were dangerous, everything is going smoothly. But before the sun began to set, Erza stops us. “We should set up camp here. If we go any further, we’ll get stuck in Vulcan infested territory overnight. I think all of us agree we don’t want that.”

But Natsu is raring to go. “Who cares? I don’t mind knocking a few monkey heads together!”

Happy backs him up with a supporting, “Aye!” Erza glares at him and he reluctantly puts down his bag.

Night comes fast. The mountains hide away the sun much too soon. I’m exhausted, so I retire early. Kilala floats into the tent a few minutes after I settled down. She sets down near my head.

She leans over me smiling. “Happy told me about your quest here. Can I say that I’m really glad I’m a part of it? I’ve wanted something like this to happen for a while.”

“Why?” I ask.

She sits down and sighs happily. “I just want a place to belong. I want to be in something excited. Truthfully, I read books a lot. And the heroes always have some kind of happy ending. An adventure and a fight that actually means something. I want that too. It’s as if I’m jealous of the people in the books.”

Realization dawns in me. Kilala is like me. She wants what I secretly desired. Suddenly, I can relate to her. “I get it. I understand where you’re coming from, having been there myself. I don’t know how this will turn out, but we can ride it out together. Maybe this will be an adventure after all.”

Kilala’s smiles is so bright, it lights up the whole tent. She crawls into the sleep bag with me and soon, our breathing matches each other. We fall into a content and hopeful sleep.


	11. Mountains of Bosco

Getting through the mountains is a million times harder than the day before. Vulcan’s are everywhere, along with a crazy assortment of other beasts.

On the bright side, I am lucky enough to see the Fairy Tail wizards in action. Currently, Natsu is tossing around a huge monkey almost three times his size. “Common! Is that all you got?” He yells as the Vulcan pulls his head out of the rocks. I watch from the sidelines, in complete awe.

The Vulcan makes one last attempt to take Natsu down, but fails miserably. Winding up a fist engulfed in flames, Natsu charges, calling out, “Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!” His blow connects with the monster’s chest and he flies out of sight.

Kilala, who is perched on my shoulder cries out in triumph. “Yea! This is great. I heard about Fairy Tail before, but I never imagined them to be this powerful!” I agree with her completely.

“Well,” Erza takes a quick look around her. “We’re almost out of Vulcan territory. But once we’re out, they’ll be bandits to deal with.” I don’t care about the bandits. Vulcan’s are the creepiest things I’ve ever met. As long as we’re not running into them every ten seconds, I’m happy. Not the flying cat, the emotion.

Within the hour, we make it through the Vulcan’s land. I can see the difference, there’s not as much snow, and the paths are made of dirt not stone.  Occasionally, a batch of trees will spring up, giving color to a dull landscape. We must be getting close to the end of the mountains. Natsu, Gray and Erza take the lead as the powerhouses of the group. I have yet to see Erza and Gray fight, but if it’s anything like Natsu, it’ll be amazing to watch.

“Hey you smell that?” Natsu asks, stopping to look around. Everyone else halts and I take a whiff of the air.

“Yea I do. Smells like….booze.” I say. But as soon as I do, everyone except for Natsu suddenly looks at me.

“How?” Lucy face is puzzled. “Natsu I understand, but how can you pick that up?”

 I wince. I remembered that I have a way better sense of smell than normal people. In the mist of all the crazy abilities Fairy Tail wizards have, I forgot that they were still human and could not smell as well as I can. Except for Natsu, who picked up on the smell before I did. “I have a great sense of smell. Another weird thing connected with my magic, I guess.”

Natsu grins at me. “Cool! Someone else who can sniff out an enemy.”

Trying to redirect the conversation, Erza cuts in. “Let’s focus on the booze smell. My bet they’re bandits. Which direction are the coming from?”

Both Natsu and I look around trying to pinpoint the source. But realization comes on fast. “They’re coming from every direction!”

In a flash, dirty booze infested men leap out of every hiding spot imaginable. Cracks in the cliffs and from behind rocks, dozens of bandits pour out and surround us. There is absolutely no escaping.

One figure make their way through the crowd. To our surprise is a girl dressed in all red. She wields a nasty pike that I don’t want to be anywhere close to me. Any guess would say she’s the ring leader. “You must be pretty strong to make it through the Vulcan’s territory.” She voice is confident and sassy, two things that don’t go well together. “That means who must have some pretty valuable stuff with you. Why don’t you hand it over, and we’ll call it a day. And the two cats stay here.” Instantly, I move to defensive position, guarding Kilala. My eyes narrow into a glare. Around me, the wizards do the same.

“Not a chance.” Natsu growls. “You bandits don’t know what you’re dealing with here. We’re Fairy Tail, and you don’t mess with us.”

A few of the men shrink back at the mention of the guild’s name. I guess Fairy Tail is a big deal, which means I chose my help wisely. But the woman is not convinced.

“I don’t back down to names. I don’t back down at all. We have the numbers advantage and you have what? A few kids who like to brawl with monkeys. You’ve got no chance.”

Her men, however, try to warn her. “Rosalia. These people, I think they’re Fairy Tail’s best. The kid with the cat! I heard the Salamander has a cat with him.”

“Don’t be a coward!” Rosalia barks at him. “Attack them! And take everything they own!” The men hesitate at first, but with renewed gusto, they charge at our group.

I brace myself for a fight, but they never reach me. Natsu leaps into the throng, throwing punches like a mad man. Fire spurts around him and the men are pushed back. But more bandits approach from the other side. As they reach me, I draw in on my combat skills. Despite my father not being an alchemist, he did know his way around a fight, and he taught the art of hand to hand combat to me.

The first guy comes and I hammer him in the stomach with a kick. Most the time, untrained people don’t fight with their legs, so if you can say balanced, a kick will take them off guard. And it does, the man’s breath sweeps out of his body and he falls to the ground. But my victory is short lived. Hordes of men pile out of nowhere, surrounding me. I find it almost impossible to get any hits in. Soon, I’ll be overwhelmed.

Just as the bandits overtake me, I feel their hands disappear. A cold shift in the air behind me makes me turn around. Gray is there, sending bandits flying with a bazooka made of ice. Finally, I get to witness his magic. Even though we’re in the middle of a battle, I stop to stare. But in a few seconds my face grows red and I look away.

“Why are you taking your clothes off!” I yell behind my hands, which are covering my face. “We’re in the middle of a battle, now’s not the time to be stripping!”

“He always does that!” Lucy’s voice reaches me even though I can’t see her. “Just go with it!” Suddenly, I get a flash back to another person I met in Resembool. He was one of my dad’s associates, a state alchemist who loved ripping his top half off almost every time he spoke. The guy was really dramatic and nearly crushed me to death in a hug. I ran, naturally, but who wanted to get someone’s chest muscles rubbed all over them? Thanks, Major Armstrong, now I have _two_ crazy strippers in my life. Anyway.

Once all the bandits in our area are cleared away, Gray smacks his hands together. But it wasn’t over, out of the corner of my eye, I spot Rosalia drawing closer. But her pike was no sparkling with purple energy. The stupid thing was magic. She smiles cruelly at me. “You haven’t won.” She insists. “The battle has barely started.” As if on command, her spear gives of a heinous screeching noise and she raises it so the tip points at me.

I feel a rush of air beside me and suddenly, Erza is there. But her armor is completely different. All of her armor is jet black with bat wings and she wields a nasty looking double edged sword. If I didn’t know better, I would say she was a queen of hell.

“The Black Wing Armor should match you dark magic nicely.” She says coldly to Rosalia. And for a second, I see fear in the bandit leader’s eyes. While she takes a step backwards, Erza takes a bold step forwards. Ezra speaks to me without looking at me, keeping her terrifying gaze on Rosalia. “Go find a place to hide, now. Kilala, go with her.”

“Yes, mam.” Kilala says quietly. I don’t think either of us want to disobey. I shift towards an opening in the rocks and take off. I’ve spent a lot of time running in the past few days, it almost feel natural. I leave the three of them behind, Gray and Erza vs Rosalia. It seems like a battle you would pay to see, but now was not the time to be sightseeing. After running a good distance away, I dive in a small crevice formed by two giant cliffs. It would have been a great place to hide but almost as soon as I get lodged between the rocks, the strong scent of booze slaps me in the face. I was followed, not by one, but by almost a dozen. I hear footsteps in the nearly deserted path.

“Common out, girlie. Give us everything and that cat of yours, and we’ll only keep you for a night!” For a split second, I wish we were back with the Vulcans. At least they easy to outsmart.

“I can try and carry you out.” Kilala offers quietly. I look up to the surface of the crevice. But it’s too narrow and her wings are too wide.

“We can’t.” I whisper back. Suddenly the light is blocked and out in front of us, the entrance of our hiding spot is blocked by ugly evil faces.

“Found you, girlie!”

I yelp and pull and bite as hands pull me out of the crevice, but to every man I injure, there’s always one to take his place. Fighting a dozen full grown men is almost impossible without backup, but I kick and punch as hard as I can, hoping to dwindle their numbers. But eventually, I’m dragged out and thrown onto the ground. I feel a hard kick on my side, and I groan. The men laugh. Through my furry vision, I see Kilala fighting as hard as possible, but she’s being forced into a sack. Tears form in my eyes, I feel so helpless, so, so helpless.

“Hey.”

The laughing stops and they all turn. I open one eye to see what was going on. It is hard to see the hulking form that approached wince the sun shines from behind them. But whoever it was, they are strong. But the bandits aren’t the smartest, so they jeer at them. “You’re dumber than you look, punk. Get lost.”

The newcomer doesn’t twitch. “I ain’t going anywhere when there’s morons to beat on. Especially ones who beat defenseless girls. You’re the ones who need to get lost.” His voice is gruff, deep and definitely male. But the men surrounding me don’t back down. Half of them charge at the strange man.

They never make it too him. In one swing, my protector knocks them all out. I may have been seeing things, but it looks like his arm turn into a metal beam, smashing into his attacker and sending them flying.  The men still around me start to back away, much like Rosalia had done when Erza arrived.  The sack holding drops to the ground. I hear Kilala’s breath whoosh out of her when she hits. My rescuer advances.

“Why are you morons still here?” The man growls.

With that, the bandits turn and run, leaving their fallen comrades in the dust. I try to pick myself out of the dirt. The man walks up to me and I feel a rough hand on my arm, pulling me up.

“You’re lucky, princess.” He mumbles at me. “If I had decided to do my normal training routine today, you’d have been hauled off.” Finally, I get a closer look at the man who rescued me.

He’s tall and buff, with long shaggy black hair. It looks like he has metal piercings on his ears and on the sides of his nose. The guy looked tough enough to eat iron. I face him standing upright on my own. Kilala pulls herself out of the sack and coughs. She looks fine, just shaken, like me.

“Granted.” The man continues. “You got kicked pretty hard. Nothing bruised or broken?”

I shake my head. That’s when I notice the symbol on his arm. It’s the Fairy Tail symbol, the same one all the others have. His is left arm, opposite of Natsu’s. I realize then he must be a Fairy Tail wizard too. I open my mouth to ask his name, when I see one of the bandits getting up. He’s behind the Fairy Tail wizard, and he pulls out a knife from his shirt. He poised to throw.

“Look out!” I push the man to the side. Instinctively, I point my hand at the bandit. The shadows come and leap from my hand, barreling towards the bandit. When it connects, it sends him flying away. He lands almost thirty feet away. The bandit groans then slumps back, alive but unconscious. I manage to stay on my feet that time, but I get a mad look from my ally.

He snorts at me, “Okay, princess, if you had that kind of power, why did you wait until now to bring it out? Why’d you wait for me to intervene? I got better things to do than save a chick who’s just messing around.”

“No, I….” I hesitate, choosing my words. “This magic is dangerous. I have to keep them in. It’s better that way.”

Behind me, I hear the footsteps of people coming this way. When I turn around, Erza, Natsu, Gray and Lucy race around the corner. They are stunned to see the man I’m talking to.

“Gajeel?” They all cry in unison.

The man next to me huffs. “This princess yours?” They all stop and stare. Kilala makes it out of the bag and lands on my shoulder. Everyone is waiting for me to say something.

I frown. “I’m not a princess, so stop calling me that.”

Gajeel looks down at me with a tired expression. “Then next time, save yourself. No one has time to go around helping people who can protect themselves. Stop wasting time and use your own strength.” He switches his gaze back to his four guild mates. “I was in the neighborhood while training. I suggest you keep a closer eye on your princess here. She doesn’t seem to be up to the challenge.”

I met this guy ten seconds ago and he already pisses me off. He had no idea what I been through and what the shadows had done to me. I glare at him. He turns away. “See you around, I’m back to training.” Without another word, Gajeel walks away. I’m so mad, I can feel my face burning. However, in the back of my head, something sticks. Whatever he said, it stuck a cord. I tell myself that he doesn’t know the whole story, he doesn’t know what’s really going on. But there in the tiny, annoying corner of my brain, the thought remains, _does he really need to?_


	12. Bandala: Bosco

Am I up to the challenge? Or will I fall short and never get home because I won’t let the shadows out? What will it truly take to accomplish my mission? Do I really want to go that far? All of these unwanted question buzz around my head as we descend from the mountains. Now in Bosco, we would reach the town of Bandala before nightfall. That is where we will look for Ajihad. I have been pretty quiet since our encounter with Gajeel. According to Happy, he’s a Dragon Slayer, like Natsu. But much grumpier. We found a hotel for the night, one large room with pillow beds. I don’t want to talk or even eat, but everyone else have other plans.

“Hey, Erza!” Natsu calls. “You want to have at it?”

For a terrifying moment, I believe these two are going to battle, but I see Natsu is holding up a pillow. Still, I don’t want to get in the middle of a pillow fight with these guys. They can be pretty friggen scary, even with a weapon as dainty as that.

“You really want to start this?” Gray asks, but I can he is winding up for the world war of pillow fights. Erza picks up her own arsenal. “Let’s go, it’s a rematch for the last time!”

The three of them look over at Lucy and me. A frightened chill runs up my spine. Lucy grabs my arm and pulls me away. “I don’t think either of us want to die tonight, so we’ll pass.” She looks at me. “Right?” I nod quickly, and stand up, Kilala in my wake. We barely make it out the door into the garden when I hear a howl behind us. The battle had begun.

Lucy and I make our way through the lustrous streets of Bandala. Though it was a border town it was filled to the brim with trade. But in the corner we currently stroll through, it’s quiet and peaceful. It almost makes me forget about the bruise on my ribs from the kick I had received earlier in the day.

Lucy stops at a park bench under a street light. She sighs deeply and sits down, inviting me to do the same with Kilala on my shoulder. “So, how do you like the journey so far? I mean apart from the attacks.”

“Honestly.” I smile. “I think the fights are half the fun. Watching you all in action is amazing. Magic is amazing.”

“I agree.” Kilala cuts in. “All of you are the most powerful wizards I’ve ever encountered.”

Lucy blushes. “Well, Erza, Natsu and Gray maybe. But thank you for saying so.” She looks up into the night sky. Beyond the light of the street, stars shine like tiny glowing suns. She looks back to her feet. “I’m glad Gramps picked us to go with you. You’re fun to be around.” Somewhere inside me starts to glow. I remember the twins saying stuff like that. Dad and Mom always like when I came out of my room or whatever, but it was the twins who went out of their way to force me out. It is nice to hear someone say that again.

“Thanks.” I pick a leaf off of a nearby bush and start to fiddle with it. “This is the best time I’ve had in a while. I never imagined I would be going on a journey like this a few days ago.”

Lucy laughs. “I felt the exact same way when I met Natsu. He blunders in one day and the next thing I know, I’m being dragged off to Fairy Tail. And the rest, as they say, is history. Without anyone ever asking me, I’m pulled into this amazing family. I couldn’t be any luckier.”

“Sounds great.” I feel a sharp pang in my heart, a locked away pain. I miss my family, more than I can bare.

“Tell me about your family.” Lucy begs. “Tell me about your life. The stuff you love to remember.” I hesitate at first, but the sparkle of excitement in Lucy’s eye changes my mind. I tell her as much as I can without blowing my secret. I tell her about my dad and his hatred of milk and being called short. I tell her about my mother, her crazy gear driven mind. I pour out my family and my greatest of memories. At one point, I have Lucy and Kilala laughing so hard, they are holding their sides.

“I can’t believe it!” Kilala giggles out between breathes. “Your dad…He… ha ha… he fended off a doctor with a tongue dispenser! Just because he didn’t want a shot! Ha ha ha!”

I am laughing, too. Just recalling the memory made me laugh as I had that day. “It was great. My father, a full grown man, hates the doctor more than I do! After it was all over, my mother turns to me and says, ‘Don’t you dare try any of that next time you the doctor comes! You hear me?’ I nearly died that night. Of course, next chance I got, I stole the stethoscope and went running off! Boy was my mom mad! My dad didn’t do anything, he just sat in the corner giggling.”

“Talk about a bad influence.” Lucy observes. I shrug with a smile on my face. She grins. “We should probably get back. I imagine they all knocked each other out by now.”

 Kilala tries to regain her footing on my shoulder. “I just hope they’re still alive.” Sure enough, when we returned, all four of them are splayed out on the floor, snoozing in exhausted sleep. We creep in and pass out soon ourselves.

I expect a soothing sleep, like I had the past few days. But my dreams come as awful nightmares. The rain is pouring down relentlessly, but it’s like acid, burning away the skin on my face. When I look away from the doom lit sky, my eyes fall on the shed. The man is trapped, blood flowing from his mouth. His arm is stretching for me. But his eyes, they are black as a cave with no entrance. They stare at me, threatening to pull me into the non-existent pupils. I scream and try to back away, blood coursing through my veins. I have to get away, I have to get away from him. My feet shift and I turn to run. My feet pound the rain soaked soil. I had to get as far away from him as possible.

The rain pelts my face so hard, I am forced to close my eyes. When they open again, the shed is in front of me. But the man’s body is gone. Replaced by him are two kids. The twins. Evan and Hazel both trapped under the broken boards. They are reaching for me and they whisper, just loud enough to reach me. “How could you do this to us?”

Tears stream madly down my face. A shriek makes me spin. My aunt and uncle are there with my mother, staring at the children’s broken forms. Uncle Al grits his teeth and yells, “You killed my children! You monster!” With terror growing like a plague in my heart, I run again, I run like it’s the only thing I know how to do. My aunt calls out, “Don’t ever come back!”

I run until my legs give out. I crash into the mud. Barely breathing, I sit in the acid rain, letting it punish me. I feel a hand on my shoulder. My father’s voice comes from above. “Diana, it’s okay. It’s your birthday. We need to go celebrate, right?” For a second, my heart grows light, I think the storm might finally be over. I look up at my father, begging him to save me.

But when I do, his smiling face morphs into one of pure hatred. “You’re not my daughter.” He growls at me. “You’re not her. You’re the Homunculus!” He leaps away from me, prepared for a fight. “You’re Pride. You’re Pride!”

He pulls a gun from his waist. He’s always had that gun, but I’ve never once seen him use it. But he points the barrel at me. When I cry out to him, my voice is raspy and weak. “Dad, no please! It’s me… I didn’t mean to…Please, Dad, I’m your daughter!”

“My daughter is dead.” My father rejects my calls with a cold voice. Hatred burns so hot in his eyes, I can feel it more than the rain. “My daughter died and you killed her, Pride. Now I will kill you!” The gunshot echoes off the mountains.

I wake up panting hard. Somehow, I’m sitting up right. My throat is dry and I can barely control my breathing. My body is shaking from adrenaline. Soft hands rub my arm. I look down. Kilala is gazing up at me with fear in her eyes.  She is clutching my hand hard. My breathing slowly gets under control.

“You were having a nightmare.” She informs me. I knew that, but having her say it convinces me more somehow. Kilala climbs up into my lap. “It looked like a really bad one, so I tried to wake you up. But you were so rooted in, nothing I did worked. Are you okay?”

I nod. But I’m not okay, not even close. The angry voices in my mind still remain. I can’t stop shaking and even though my breathing is slowing down, I don’t feel in control of my body. Visions float through, the ghosts attacking my consciousness. The sight of my two cousins, my mother and aunt and uncle, all bring tears to my eyes. They all hated me, they all thought I was a monster. Than my father, convinced I was his enemy. Convinced I am a murderer. I am anything but okay. The tears roll down my face, and I am unable to stop them.

“Whoa, Diana.” Lucy’s voice reaches me through the sadness. She emerges from her sleeping bag and sits up. “What’s wrong, a dream? What happened?”

I try to keep my voice low, so I don’t wake up anyone else, but that makes the tears come faster. “It was a reminder. A reminder of what I am. Of what happens when I think I can do good… Lucy, Kilala, you should get out of here. Stop helping me and go home. I’m not safe to be around. I don’t deserve your help anyway.”

They both are stunned. Kilala puts a paw on my shoulder. “What do you mean? Of course you do! You helped me. And you’re a wonderful person. None of us are scared of you. Right?” She turns to Lucy and Lucy nods.

“Absolutely!” She agrees. “I want to help you. And you deserve it more than anyone. We’re not going anywhere.”

I shake my head. “You wouldn’t be so quick to help me if…if you know what I’ve done.” I whisper. “If you knew what happened…”

“Diana.”

I look up quickly. Erza is pulling herself out of her sleeping bag. She had been listening to the conversation and now chose to intervene. “Diana, there has been something I’ve known since we met. You are terrified of your magic for a reason. I’m going to guess there was an accident involving you losing control. Someone got hurt and you blame yourself. That’s why you think your magic is evil. But I guarantee you, if you tell us, if you talk to us, we will think no differently of you. You are a good person, and Master Makarov saw that. If he didn’t see the good in you that you yourself don’t see, we wouldn’t be here right now. So tell us the truth.” I feel the eyes on me from every angle. Kilala’s, Lucy’s, Erza’s. But unlike in the dream, they aren’t angry or scared or accusing, they are simply waiting. Waiting for me.

I crumble. I tell them everything about that day, starting with my practice session in the woods, ending with falling asleep under the burned out tree. I leave out the parts with alchemy and the Gate. I am not quite ready to reveal that much, but everything else, I place out on the table. They all watch me with unchanging eyes. When I finish, I wipe tears away and turn my eyes to the ground.

“He was trying to kill you,” Is the first thing she says. Lucy has tears in her open eyes. “You saved your cousins. You stopped a bad guy. And you think your evil because of that?”

It is certainly not the reaction I am expecting. My head whips up to meet her eyes. Kilala is also on the verge of tears. “You can’t blame yourself for that, Diana.” She uses her paw to dab at her eyes. “You’re no monster. Your magic saved you and your family. You’re a hero.”

I mouth drops open. Quickly, I protest. “But that was someone’s life! I murdered someone…”

Erza finishes my sentence. “In self-defense. It doesn’t count as a murder if you’re protecting your family. More importantly, you need to move on from this. You are carrying this heavy burden on your shoulders. A burden that can be let go. So move on. You have two strong legs. Get up and use them to keep moving.”

I’m shocked. “You’re saying I should just forget what happened? Pretend that day never existed?”

Erza shakes her head. “Moving on doesn’t means you forget about things. It just means you have to accept what’s happened and continue living. It’s what we all need to do at some point in our lives. Okay?”

It takes me a few moments to absorb what she said. When it finally sinks in, I nod. “Okay.” Kilala and Lucy smile at me, the tears disappearing. A tiny smile creeps across my own lips.

“Good.” Erza pushes herself back into her bed, finalizing the discussion. “Tomorrow, Ajihad will be able to shine some light on your mystery. Until then, get sleep. Now.” Not willing to disobey Erza, I lay my head back on my pillow. Kilala curls up beside me, with her tail over her nose. I can hear Lucy shuffling her way back into bed.

The ghosts are still in my mind, but tucked away into a back corner. I feel lighter, like the weight Erza had spoken of fell off. Maybe it wasn’t my fault. Maybe I am not a bad person. And maybe, just maybe, my shadows aren’t as evil as they seem.


	13. Bandala: Bosco

There are no words to describe the emotions swirling around inside my head. My mind wars with itself as two conflicting sides fight with each other. The tears of last night have dried and my face is clean and washed. I look fine on the outside, but the battle raging within keeps me silent. But the busy streets of Bandala provide a different struggle, staying together. If it weren’t for Kilala, I would have lost the group a long time ago.

“Over there!” Kilala shouts above me, pointing in the direction of a large water fountain in the middle of the square. “I can see Natsu’s hair!” Her wings are extended out, filling with light as she floats around. We rush towards the fountain.

“Natsu!” I call out and the Dragon Slayer turns around. He waves his hand.

“Pew! It’s so crowded here.” He points out. I roll my eyes, he’s like Hazel, a Captain Obvious. When I reach him, he grabs my hand and leads me through the crowd. I look down at our link. I remember the first time I saw him. His prank and my breakdown. Natsu wasn’t scared of me in the least. I have no idea why, only that he was one of the first to think my power is cool.

We dodge through people to the side of the road, in between two stalls. He lets go of my hand. I bite my lip, wanting to ask the question, but we spot Erza, Lucy and Gray. Natsu halls me off towards them. We barely make it to them and Erza sighs. “We really need to do a better job of staying together. Ajihad’s house is practically on the other side of town.”

“Maybe if we took the side streets.” Gray suggests. It seems like as good a plan as any, so we make our way to the less crowded streets. Without all the people to distract me, my mind is able to focus once again. I think about what Erza said last night, about moving on. Of course, I did kill someone, but she was right, it was self-defense. And I saved my cousins, and probably the rest of my family, in the process. And it wasn’t like I meant to kill him, it was an accident. Should I really be holding myself accountable?

Still, earlier that day, I had openly practiced using the shadows. At the time, I had them under my command, but once fear took over, I was powerless to stop them. Since I let myself go, let my defenses down, the shadows could have been unleashed to a more terrifying degree. It may have been my recklessness that cause the death.

But it is all mere speculation, and because of all my years of growing up around alchemists, one cannot jump to a conclusion based on an unproven hypothesis. Whether or not it was my choice to tempt fate that led to the accident can’t be proved one way or another. Until I know more, I’ll refrain from judgement. But what Erza told me last night still stands. Either way, I need to move on, which brings me to the moment fast approaching. Are the shadows a curse or a blessing? With any luck, Ajihad will be able to shine some light on that mystery.

But one question still nags at me. One question that I can have easily answered. Natsu is strolling beside me, Happy perched comfortably on his head, pushing his spiky pink hair aside. I match strides with Natsu. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

He gives me a bright grin. “Sure, go head.”

“When we first met, you pranked me and my shadows appeared.” I begin quiet and timid, but gain confidence. “But you weren’t worried or scared at all. How come? I mean, most people see darkness and think bad things. How come you didn’t?”

Natsu shrugs. “Your magic isn’t bad or good. Magic isn’t bad just because it’s a certain color. That’s like saying Lucy is a perfect angel because she’s blonde. And Happy and I both know that isn’t true. She can be pretty harsh sometimes.”

“Aye.” Happy agrees worriedly, as if remembering a certain time. “She can be really scary, almost as much as Erza.”

My mouth drops open. “I understand how Erza can be scary, but Lucy? She’s so nice.”

Natsu shutters. “You have no idea. Lucy can get pretty violent…” Happy nods.

I raise an eyebrow. “Like when?”

Natsu leans in close to me, holding up a hand to block his words. “Well this one time…”

But before he could finish, suddenly, Lucy appears in front of us. Her face is twisted with anger. “What was that Natsu? You boys were about to say something about me?” From the look she’s giving Natsu and Happy, I get the feeling that one wrong word will get them in slapped.

Natsu holds up his hands. “Ah, nothing! Just kidding around!” Lucy throws them a suspicious look and turns away. We look at each other, all still shaking from the terrifying encounter.

“We see your point.” Kilala squeaks out. With that, the four of us start laughing. Nothing like a life or death situation to bring people closer together. Still, Natsu did provide an answer to my question. And my step is all the lighter for it.

Making our way through the less crowded streets, we make it to the other end of town, a smaller, less busy district. Small two story buildings rim the streets. Erza heads towards the end of the street, where a shop with its door open welcomes potential customers. Our team enters and I take a peek around. The shelves are lined with a wide assortment of objects. It reminds me of the magic stalls back in Magnolia that Romeo pointed out. Some of the items were glowing in different colors. We pushed along to the shop counter, were a tall man with dark skin sat behind the desk.

“I’d recognize Fairy Tail wizards anywhere.” He said, his deep voice matches his size. “You Fairies are a long way from home. What can I do for you?”

Erza steps up. “We need your assistance in a certain matter. You can identify a type of magic by seeing it, right? Any kind?”

The man I assume to be Ajihad nods. “That’s right, as long as it’s been classified before. If not, than I can at least connect it to another type of magic similar to it. If the magic evolved somehow from a known type, than I can tell which one.” He looks around at our group. “Tell me, is it an item or a person whose magic you wish me to classify?”

All the wizards look at me. Under the pressure of their stares, I shrink back. They turn back to Ajihad. “It’s our friend here, Diana. She has a certain magic that she doesn’t know how she got and doesn’t know what it is.”

Ajihad strokes his long beard. “I see. Then it will be a little more difficult to identify, since magic that is possessed my human often varies slightly form the base form. Depending on a person’s character and intentions, the magic evolves. However, I should be able to classify the type. Come upstairs, everything we need is there.”

We follow Ajihad up into the second floor of the building. Its dark but my eye make out a large room that takes up the whole area. Shelves with more strange objects circle the room. In the very center, a circle filled with a peculiar design is painted on the floor and ceiling. The circles remind me of the alchemy I saw in my father’s books. I’m not sure if I totally trust them.

Ajihad holds up his hand as we enter. “This is where we shall preform the spell.” He turns to me. “You must stand in the middle of the circle. Once I activate the spell, we will see the true colors of your magic.” Everyone waits for me to walk to the middle, but I hesitate.

“Tell me.” I say under my breath. “Will this activate my magic? Will I have any control at all?”

Ajihad shakes his head. “No. What this spell does drags out the inner essence of the magic and identifies it. You won’t be in control. But you need not fear, my spell is powerful, it won’t get out of hand.”

But I frown. I thought that before and someone died. Now, all of these wizards are in the room, all these amazing people who risked a lot to help me. Erza had called me their friend. I didn’t really know anyone outside of my family before, so it was a new idea for me to call someone a friend. But even if I don’t truly understand the concept, I definitely don’t want friends in a room where something potentially dangerous could be unleashed. And I would have absolutely zero control. This was a large risk that I’m not too willing to take.

But in the back of my head, a voice nagged. _I suggest you keep a closer eye on your princess here. She doesn’t seem to be up to the challenge._ Gajeel, his words come back, stinging my mind. He’s right, if I want to go anywhere, I have to be willing to move forward. _I got better things to do than save a chick who’s just messing around._ Another good point. Everyone here today, they are trying to help me, but it only works if I help myself. I won’t let myself be dragged to my own goal. I have to walk on my own two legs. Ironic, it seems, my father has only one leg, and he’s still able to walk. So it makes sense that I should be able to walk on two. I make up my mind and step into the circle.

Once I’m in the middle, I turn to face the wizards. All of their eyes are wide, expectantly waiting. I take slow breath in, then let it out. “I’m ready.”

Ajihad nods. He holds his hands out over the circle, and the ceiling and floor begins to glow. A purple light envelopes the room. The light intensifies and I feel a pull in my chest. The tugging becomes stronger, until I feel like something inside me is about to be ripped out. I look down.

Replacing the purple glow of the magic circle, a shadow spreads from my chest. Tendrils of dark light flow from me and wrap around the walls. The magic, the shadows that I’ve kept down for so long, they are being forced out. Everyone in the room is watching me with open mouths and the shadows consume me. I am wreathed in black fire, flickering angrily. My body feels like it’s about to rip open. But I stay calm. It’s necessary, this pain and the risk. It’s necessary to achieve my goal. I cannot back down.

And just like that, the shadows subside. They withdraw back inside me, and my knees buckle. I’m barely able to catch myself before my head hits the ground. Kilala rushes forward and lands by my side. I’m happy to see her face. Nothing went wrong, no one got hurt. I’m relieved.

Ajihad’s face is still in awe. He gazes down at me. “Amazing. Your magic, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Suddenly, I’m worried. “Does that mean you don’t know what it is inside me?”

Ajihad sighs. “I do know. And you may have a tough journey ahead of you.”

Every bone in my body is riddled with fear. Something down inside me groans. I secretly had been wishing that I was indeed not plagued by some dark magic. “It’s bad isn’t it?” I ask, my voice shaking. “I’m cursed with a demonic power.”

Ajihad eyes widen in alarm. “No! Not at all!” He smiles at me. “Many would call it a gift. You are a rare individual.” Everyone is on the edge of their mental seats, waiting. Ajihad gives a half laugh. “You, child, are a Dragon Slayer.”


	14. Mountains of Bosco

Everyone was dead silent at first, but Gray is the first to speak. “She’s like Natsu? That’s not good.”

Natsu face becomes angry and his head whips towards Gray. “What’d you say? You want to go, Ice Breath!” They look like they’ll start brawling in the middle of everything, but Erza steps in between them. “Focus!”

I turn my eyes to Ajihad. “A Dragon Slayer? But how? How could I have gotten the same magic Natsu has? They don’t look the same at all! My power is shadows, not fire.”

Ajihad shrugs. “How you obtained these powers, I don’t know. But Dragon Slayer magic varies depending on the dragon who gifted them to you. It appears your magic came from a Shadow Dragon. They are very rare.”

“A Shadow Dragon?” Kilala asks. “You said that Diana would have a hard journey ahead. Why is that?”

Ajihad sighs and strokes his beard. “Well it is simply the nature of the beast. Shadow Dragon are often believed to be evil or bad luck since darkness is regarded as bad. But understand there is no evidence to support this claim. Shadow Dragon Slayer magic is just like any other Slayer magic. But because of your magic, some less educated than present company may hate you. You must have been worried about those shadows. They are powerful.”

Lucy holds out a hand to me and I take it. She pulls me up. Natsu is smiling. “Hey! Another Dragon Slayer! I should have known. You smell like one. We can train together!” I’m not too sure about that. At this moment, I’m not too sure about anything.

What does this mean for me? My shadows aren’t bad, now I’m sure of that. But how did I get them? On the other side of the Gate, no less. And did they trigger the Gate to open back at the old house? Most importantly, how do I use them to get home? All these questions boggle my mind as I stand trying to understand.

“What now?” Happy asks.

Erza ponders for a second, a concentrated look spread over her face. “Well, I guess its back to Fairy Tail to see if Gramps can make any sense of this. Is there anything more you can tell us?” Erza eyes Ajihad.

“Nothing but a warning.” He admits. “Diana, you must be careful. Shadow Dragons are not always thought of as friends. Be cautious who you trust.”

I can’t see them, but I can feel their presence. All my new friends in the room. They saw me as an ally, rather than an enemy. Regardless of my magic, I intended to keep it that way. I trust them, almost as much as my family.

We leave Ajihad’s shop and make our way back to the mountains. Natsu, having discovered our kinship, won’t leave my side. “So. You were born with Dragon Slayer magic. That’s pretty wild. My dad was a dragon, you know.”

“Lucy told me.” I pause, not really in any condition to talk rationally. “But I’ve don’t know anything about dragons. Until a few days ago, I didn’t know they existed. I’m not… I don’t really know where to go from here.”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Natsu says. “You train with me, become a great Dragon Slayer. Then we’ll help you get home!” He says it with such certainty, I almost believe him. But it isn’t that simple. I’m still unsure about these abilities.

“Speaking of.” Lucy comes up next to me. “You didn’t ask Ajihad.” I rise and eyebrow and Lucy responds, “You said you were going to ask him if he could take away your magic. Have you changed your mind?”

That’s a good question. Now that I know my shadows aren’t the curse I once thought them to be, I have no reason to get rid of them. But am a ready to embrace them as Natsu wishes? That is the question I must answer. “I think so, yea. My magic is like Natsu’s right? If I know how to use it the right way, it can help me get home. So, I guess there’s no harm in trying.” A piece of me still worries. I said that before, right before things took a turn for the worst. But if my magic is the same as Natsu’s, than he can show me how to control them. I won’t hurt anyone anymore. 

We camp in the outskirts of the mountains, right on the edge of the bandits’ territory. Once settled, Natsu takes me a little ways from the camp. Lucy, Happy and Kilala follow, wanting to watch the show.

“So.” Natsu begins. “First thing we’ll try is your Roar. You’re gonna roar like a dragon, as loud and with as much force as you can muster.” He waits expectantly.

I haven’t the faintest idea what to do. I look at him meekly. “Can I maybe have a demonstration?”

Lucy and Happy’s faces get a little terror on them and I assume I’ve asked for something insane. But Natsu grins wide. “Absolutely!” He turns toward a rocky obstacle, so large it could have been a dam. He takes a deep breath in. “Fire Dragon: ROAR!”

The sound was almost deafening. And column of flame erupts like a sideways volcano. It’s the most intense heat my skin had ever encounter. The blast of fire connects with the small mountain, and it explodes into a million pieces. When the smoke recedes, nothing is left. Peebles rain from the sky. Kilala and I both are open mouthed.

“Whoa.”

“Now your turn.” Natsu says, turning back to me. “Just build up as much energy as you can in your lungs, than release with a loud Roar. And I might help if you say it out load. You’d say Shadow Dragon: Roar, since you’re a Shadow Dragon Slayer.”

Determined, I look at the next pile of boulders. It’s just as big as the one Natsu destroyed, but I narrow my eyes and concentrate. I can feel the magic stirring in my body, ready to be released. I take a massive breath of air. “Shadow Dragon….Roar.” Nothing comes, except all of my air. Not even a wisp of magic.

Natsu shakes his head. “You have to mean it! Try and this time, you’re not a human, you’re a dragon. So act like it!”

Again, I face off with the stubborn rocks. I remember how I had felt before my life turned for the worst. That morning when I believed in myself. If I could do it then, I can do it now. Imagining myself as a massive scaled beast, I inhale deeply. When I do, I feel the magic stir once again, circling and the pressure building. When my lungs are filled, I yell as loud as I can. “Shadow Dragon: ROAR!”

The energy within me forces its way out, blasting out with all of my strength. Much like Natsu’s fire, my shadows form a large tunnel of darkness, heading straight towards the rocks. They don’t stand a chance, exploding in every direction. They pelt the ground. My shadows die away and I’m left out of breath. I bend over, hands on my knees, panting. I’ve never let loose that much before, and it leaves me drained.

But Natsu is overjoyed. “Perfect! I knew you could do it! You’ve got the makings of a great Dragon Slayer. Let’s try again!” We train until the sun went down. Each time I use magic, I get weaker, but at the same time, stronger. Natsu isn’t the best teacher, often having trouble explaining things in a way I can understand. But I make progress, and eventually, both of us are tired. All five of us make our way back to camp, where Gray and Erza are cooking over a fire.

It smells good, and my stomach growls. “Wow, I must have gotten pretty drained. Magic is hard.”

Gray shrugs. “You’ll build up an endurance for it with practice. Give it time, you’ll be able to go for hours at full thrust.”

“That reminds me.” Natsu says as he sits down by the edge of the fire. “You’ll need to learn how to eat shadows.”

“What?” I ask in a baffled tone. “Eat shadows? Why would I do that? How is that even possible?”

Natsu grins at me. “Well, that’s how you gain magic power. I eat fire because my element is fire. You’d eat shadows since your element is shadows. It’s kinda hard to explain, but when you find a shadow, you’ll swallow it and then your magic power will be replenished. But don’t ever eat an element that isn’t your own. It’ll be really bad for you.”

“That didn’t stop you from eating ethernano.” Lucy objects skeptically. “And you nearly died. You passed out for several days.”

“Hey that’s different!” Natsu protests. “I had to!” Lucy rolls her eyes. “Anyway.” Natsu continues irritated. “Everything I learned from Igneel, I’ll try to teach you.”

A thought suddenly strikes my mind. “What if I found the dragon that gave me these powers. Could they explain why or how? What about Igneel, could I ask him?”

Natsu’s smile disappears. “I wish we could, but…” He sighs. “Igneel disappeared. All of the dragons did. I don’t know where any of them are.” I feel bad about bring up a sore topic, but Erza rescues us.

“What if Diana and the disappearances are connected?” Her voice is low, and she’s looking at the fire, deep in thought. We all look at her for an explanation. She continues. “What if Diana was given these abilities because of the dragons vanishing. You said you’ve had them since birth right? And you’re fourteen, so the dragons were still around when you were born. I wonder if it means anything.”

“It’s worth looking into.” Gray agrees. Natsu is silent, which makes me wonder if he knows anything I don’t. Thinking about it, he probably knows a lot more than I do. Either way, it was a lead for him, and I hope I can help in any way I can.

Eating dinner is super refreshing. But even though I had my fill, I am still exhausted. So is everyone else. It had been a crazy day. As I’m getting ready for sleep, I spot Natsu and Happy over by the edge of camp, sitting alone. Natsu is staring off into the darkness, not saying anything. I walk over to him.

“Natsu.” My voice is soft, but he turns to look at me. “Natsu, if there is anything I can do to help you look for Igneel, let me know. You’ve all helped me so much, I want to help you if I can. Just ask and I’ll be right there.”

For a second, Natsu just looks up at me. Then he grins in his familiar way. “Thanks, Diana, I will. We’ll figure this out and you’ll find what this is all about. I promise.”

I smile back at him. Afterwards, I head for the tent. Kilala is already curled up on my pillow. Seeing her, I pause to think. Kilala, Natsu Lucy, all of them have helped me stand up after I fell. This whole journey, it has brought me so far. I’ve come a long ways from where I was. I have friends and I can control my magic. For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I feel like I belong. It feels fantastic.


	15. Magnolia

It doesn’t take long to make it back to Magnolia. All the while, Natsu has been teaching me everything he knows. Magic drains me pretty badly, but once I am taught to eat shadows, I start to retain my strength. At first, my attempts at eating darkness ended with everyone laughing except me. Eventually, I manage to get a bite, but I can still hear the giggles coming from our cat companions.

Once we reach Magnolia, my heart does a little dance. Something about this wonderful magic filled place makes me feel welcomed. In the distance, Fairy Tail’s castle of a guild hall draws our group closer. The large front doors are pushed open by Natsu and we enter. Everyone inside looks up as the wizards walk in. They are greeted with smiles and conversation.

The blue girl I remember from before suddenly appears by Gray’s side. “Gray, my darling, you’ve returned!” Another person who likes to state the obvious. “My only wish is that I got to journey with you! How sad I was when you were gone!” Her eyes never left this face. Gray just gave her a weird look, but I turn my eyes as awkwardness takes hold of that situation. Lucy is talking to a pretty girl with reading glasses. Something about her tells me she’s a bookworm. Happy floats away to another white cat, carrying a similar look as the girl hounding after Gray. Kilala and I look at each other and shrug.

But Natsu doesn’t let me observe anymore of the guild hall, dragging me towards the back to guild hall, where Makarov sits on the counter top. He waits expectantly for us, behind him Mirajane smiles. Natsu grins as we approach. “Hey Gramps! You’re not gonna believe it! She’s a Dragon Slayer, too!”

Surprise illuminates Makarov’s face. “Is that so? Have to admit, I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Another Dragon Slayer?” A young voice behind me chirps. “That’s great!” I turn around to look. A girl with long blue hair gazes up at me. She has a wide smile and bright eyes, and she reminds me of Hazel. Natsu grins back at her.

“Wendy!” He exclaims. “Diana, this is Wendy. She’s a Dragon Slayer, too.”

Wendy bows to me. I politely respond in turn. “It’s nice to meet you. I had no idea, there were so many Dragon Slayers.”

Wendy shrugs. “Well it’s not many guilds have them. I’ve never met another guild with as many Dragon Slayers has Fairy Tail. As a matter of fact, most guilds don’t have any at all.”

“We have three Dragon Slayers right now.” Natsu cut in. “Wendy, myself and that guy Gajeel you met before. Which means there’s plenty of people here for you to relate to.” I’m not sure about that, seeing as I grew up on the other side of the Gate. But other than that not-so-small detail, yea, plenty of people to relate to.

Gramps reclaims the conversation by a thought. “Honestly, this intrigues me more all the time. How you got your magic in the first place and how you managed to get here, all questions that need to be answered. Why don’t you start with telling me about the trip?” Natsu and I together tell the guild master about our journey. Kilala leaves to talk to Happy and the other white cat that he seems to have fallen in love with. By the end of our story, the sun has set and Makarov is stroking his mustache.

“A Shadow Dragon, huh? Well, I can see how you thought you magic was evil. There isn’t often a fine line between good and bad. However, how you choose to use your gift is what counts. We need to look into this. I firmly believe that your power is the key to getting you home.”

Lucy comes up behind me. “The library is chocked full of books. I’m sure we’ll find something in there.”

“Then let’s go!” Natsu yells, practically running for the side door. I want to follow, but my feet are slow and my eyes droop. Involuntarily, I yawn.

 Lucy rolls her eyes. “Natsu. It’s late and the rest of us are tired. We’ll start tomorrow. I’m going home and freshening up. We’ve spent almost a week in the mountains. I need a real bed.” I agree with her, since my body feels ready to fall over.

Natsu huffs. “Fine, but we start early tomorrow. We have to figure this out now.” He and Happy leave the guild hall, his scarf waving goodbye in the night wind.

I look around and notice most of the wizards had cleared out. It was pretty late anyway and I’m sure a day with Fairy Tail would wear anyone out. I spot the familiar bench on the side wall and head for that. Lucy grabs my arm.

“I totally forgot. You don’t have a place to stay, do you?” She asks with her voice filled with concern. “If you want, you can spend the night at my place. You and Kilala.”

Honestly, nothing sounds better than that and Kilala flits to my shoulder and pops down, exhausted. I smile at Lucy sheepishly, “If it’s not too much trouble…”

Lucy smiles. “No trouble at all. Besides, I’d love the company. Girl’s night.”

Soon, I was following Lucy through the streets of town. Even at night, Magnolia was nice. The moon had brought an easy quiet and the river that flows next to the road reflected its pale light. Lucy leads me to her house by the riverside and I step inside.

Her apartment is quaint and bright. It fits her personality well. One room in addition to a bathroom and closet, Lucy’s house fits one person perfectly. She drops her pack on a chair next to her desk and yawns. “You can have the couch or the bed. Either one works.”

I raise my hands. “The couch is fine. Trust me, I’ve slept on worse.”

“Thank so much, Luooshi.” Kilala practically falls off my shoulder onto the couch. Within a heartbeat, she’s snoozing soundly. Lucy and I laugh. With the remainder of our strength, we get ready for bed. Soon, I’m curled up net to Kilala on the couch with Lucy in her own bed. It’s quiet except for Kilala’s puffs of sleepy air. Even though she’s silent, I can feel Lucy’s tension.

Finally she speaks. “I bet you’re missing your family, right?”

I finger the dragon charm around my neck, the one given to me right before the accident. A sharp pang rings through my heart. I sigh. “Yea.”

“I’m sure they miss you.” She encourages me.

 “I just… I… Lucy, even if I find a way home, I’m not going back.” I admit. “Things can’t go back to the way they were. I’ll never be able to get up the courage to face them again. Even though you all know the truth, it would seem impossible to them. And I could have accidentally killed my cousins and I’m sure they’re terrified of me, or at least of my magic. They probably think I’m dead. It’s better to leave it that way.”

“Really? You think that’s best?” Lucy’s voice holds a tint of anger. She sits up to look at me over the couch. “You can’t do that to them. They love you.”

I look away from her. “I know that. But they won’t love my magic, which is a part of me. If I can’t be everything I am around them, than what’s the point? I’m going to see them again, but they won’t see me. Please, Lucy, understand. I’ve had to go through so much already. I don’t want to endure the rest of my life in fear and everyone I love fearing me. I can’t take that.”

Lucy’s forceful gaze draws me to look back at her. “Listen.” Her voice is soft, but powerful. “You think you’re alone in your pain? We all know what that’s like. Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and had lost something. I lost my mother a while back. Natsu lost Igneel. Mirajane and her brother, Elfman lost their sister. But she came back, and they were so happy. If I could have my mother back, I would do anything. So believe me when I tell you, they want you back as much as you want to. You have to find them. They’ll understand. I promise, it’ll work out. We’ll help you get home. And you’ll see your family. But please, don’t make them suffer any more than they already have.”

I still feel the conflict inside my mind. My heart begs me to return to my mother and father. However, in my mind, I knew I could never live there again. Not with my guilt hanging over my head. Even if the shed was gone, I would still look on that spot in horror.  But, for Lucy’s sake, I say, “Alright. Fine, you win.”

It is a lie.

This seems to sooth Lucy and she puts her head back on the pillow. I feel bad about deceiving her, but after everything that’s happened, I can’t bring myself to agree with her. I’m moving on, as Erza said I should, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to waltz back to my family like nothing ever happened. I learn from my mistakes, and going home would be bad. So, for the sake of everyone, I have to lie. But that’s doesn’t make sleep come any easier, my eyes strain at the ceiling as I plead with my consciousness for rest. Eventually, exhaustion wins out, and my emotions fall away into the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people. So, I want to enhance my story as much as possible for reader enjoyment. Please let me know what you like about this and what I can do better! Thanks, all!


	16. Magnolia

I should have known bunking with a wizard from Fairy Tail would end strangely. The squeak of a window opening forces my mind awake. Every alert I had was going off loudly in my head. Someone is breaking into Lucy’s apartment, and with her sleeping by the window, she’d be the first one getting hurt. I snap upright, ready for a fight. Kilala, who had been snoozing practically on top of me, falls to the floor. She yelps as she receives her rude awakening. But there’s no time to help her. I turn to the window as the intruder breaks in.

I come face to face with a pink haired wizard.

“Morning!” Natsu yells. He leaps from the window ledge, over a stirring Lucy, and lands on the floor. Happy floats in behind him. As my mind registers what had happened, my heart begins to calm.

“Natsu?” I breathe out, baffled. “What the heck are you doing here? Why come through the window?”

Lucy groans. She manages to sit up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. “Natsu! Really? I have a door!”

Natsu grins. “You guys are late! The sun is up and it’s time to work! So let’s get to the guild hall. You can’t sleep all day.” He points out the window where the guild hall shines in the early morning light. I’m still at a loss for words.

Suddenly, I hear a shuffling coming from behind me. I whip around to Lucy’s chimney. Ash is falling from the hole into the fireplace, like something is climbing down and I doubt its Santa Claus. With one last shuffle, Gray’s head appears upside down from the chimney. “Hey, Lucy. Sup, Diana. Morning.”

Kilala, who had recovered from her fall, squeaks, “What are you people doing? This is breaking entering!”

Lucy sighs. “This happens all the time…” Gray pulls himself out of the chimney. Except, again, he’s almost completely naked except for a pair of shorts.

Like an awkward sissy, I cover my eyes. “Where are your clothes? Better question, why did you use the chimney to get inside? You people are crazy!”

Lucy nods in agreement. “If they’re here, that means Erza can’t be far behind.” Sure enough, Erza appears in the doorway to the bathroom. “Good morning everyone.”

I give her a hopeless look. “Do I even want to know how you got in?”

My question goes unanswered as Happy floats into the middle. “Guys, common, we have a lot of work to do! All that research, and here we find Lucy slacking off!”

“I’m not slacking off, you stupid cat!” Lucy yells in her defense. I look around the room, convinced that I am in way over my head with these Fairy Tail characters. All of them are a whole new level of insane.

But within ten minutes, we all are making our way to the guild hall. My stomach grumbles and Happy assures me that Mira would make me something to eat. I smile, everyone in Fairy Tail might be crazy, but they’re wonderful anyway. The guild hall is still a little empty but filling fast, with all the early morning wizards pilling in. We head for the library. On the way, Mira passes me a pastry of some kind, glazed with white icing. I munch it down and it’s the best dang breakfast I’ve ever had. My mom can cook, but mornings have never been her forte, so the breakfasts tend to suffer. But a Fairy Tail breakfast makes up for every morning for the past fourteen years.

Once we reach the library, my eyes light up. The wall are super high and filled to the brim with books. Being a die-hard bookworm myself, my heart melts at the sight. “So… many…books…” I manages to whisper out.

Lucy smiles. “Well, yea. And hopefully, one of them has the answers we need.” She and Natsu don’t wait, diving into the pile of books with gusto. The rest of us follow. My body brims with excitement. So many things to read and discover. I have an opportunity that no other person from my side of the Gate has. It’s a whole other world from alchemy.

Hours pass. Kilala and I work efficiently. Kilala uses her flight to find anything that could be useful. She pulls it and hands it to me. I read it wildly. After a while, Lucy approaches my nest of books and hands me a pair of reading glasses. When I try them on, instantly, I can read a million times quicker than before. I tear through books faster than Kilala can find them. Magic, as I finding, is a very useful thing to have.

Once or twice, Natsu or Lucy calls me over to look at what they found. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find much about dragons and there isn’t even a mention of the Gate. After conferring with them, I make my way back to my nest. But my eyes spot motion and I glance over. A mirror in the corner had caught my reflection. I stop to observe myself.

I’m still in the black hunting tunic from Porlyusica, but I don’t see myself as a Goth now. My skin is tanned, and my hair is pulled back into a lazy braid. I’m standing up straight, my shoulders are straight and my posture emanates confidence. I’m stronger than before. But the biggest difference is in my eyes. The gold like eyes so similar to my father’s illuminate my face. But before everything happened, they had been shrouded in a cloudy darkness. Now they are shinning and awake, as if someone had polished them like brass. So much about me has changed, I barely recognize myself anymore. I like the difference.

Kilala floats into the reflection of the mirror behind me, holding a thick book. “Hey, Diana, I found a kind of weird one. It’s got some sort of mention of shadows and stuff. I thought maybe your magic and the shadows in here where related.”

I abandon the mirror and take the book from her. Instantly, my eyes widen. The cover is black and the design on is almost identical to the one I’ve seen before, on the doors of the Gate. I leap back into my nest, my eyes never leaving the book and I rip it open and pour through it. The words on the page amaze me.

It’s about the Gate, and although it’s from this side, the pieces from both worlds seem to fit. Those who open it must pay a price. The Gate is considered taboo and for the most part, its use is forbidden. There is some mention about a dark wizard named Zeref getting involved with it, and that the Book of Zeref is connected strongly with the Gate. That’s why people stay away from it. This Zeref guy used the Gate for terrible things. Sounds familiar, since Dad told me stories about the man called Father and his attempts to become a god by absorbing the power inside its doors. The deeper I look into the readings, the more the book elaborates on the idea of the Gate.

According to the text, the Gate serves as an eternal abyss that traps the evil souls that wish to eat the world. Demons supposedly come from within and if you open the Gate, they will either escape or drag you in. But those before who had somehow captured the Gate’s power had become incredibly strong and almost nothing could stop them. Almost at the end of the book, there are a few pages with handwritten notes. Someone had found this book before and decided to add to it. I slow down and carefully read the curvy lines made with fine pen.

“ _The Gate is not an endless abyss as some have come to believe._ ” I read to myself quietly, trying to absorb every clue I can. “ _It’s more of a deadly hallway, which no wizard has managed to pass. There is a massive amount of energy inside the Gate, but what studies have shown, this world is not the only thing pulling on the energy. It is my theory that there are many worlds like our own that feed off of the inside of the Gate. It’s possible that the Gate is a connection, a ravine between these worlds._ ” A name at the end of the note gives credit to the writer, Ferez, but it isn’t anyone I recognize, so I shrug it off. But this confirms what I had thought earlier. The Gate is a doorway not just into the abyss, but to a world, or even worlds, beyond it. Still, the idea boggles my mind.

Not wanting to alarm the others, I stand up with the book in hand. “I’m going to get a drink. Be right back.” My friends look up at me, nod, then return to their work. I rush up the stairs to find Master Makarov.

He’s in his office on the second floor and as I walk in the room, I can feel the tension building in my gut. I don’t know how this book can help me, but it’s a start. Fairy Tail’s tiny master looks up at me as I approach. “Sir, I’m positive this book talks about the Gate. A note in the back proves my theory. I am sure that I came from the other side.”

Makarov takes the book from me, and flips through the pages. “I do remember reading this book. We’ve had this one since the founding of Fairy Tail. And this note, it backs your theory. We can safely assume that you are correct.”

“But that raises so many more questions!” I plead. “How could I have possible gotten my magic if I was on the other side of the Gate? And why Dragon Slayer magic? What do dragons have to do with anything? We don’t even have dragons where I’m from.” I start to hyperventilate. Nothing is coming together. I haven’t found any answers.

“You must stay calm, Diana.” The master says. He stands up on his desk, and even with the extra height, I’m still several inches taller. For a quick second, I think of my father. He’d be so happy to find someone else who’s so vertically challenged. Makarov goes on. “Listen to me. The answers won’t be solved over night, but it is not hopeless. You’ve found out that you’re a Dragon Slayer, yes? That’s something. Answers will always lead to more questions.”

I sigh. I know all too well that there will always be more questions, being in a family of alchemists, but I never imagined it would be this frustrating. “Please, I just want to go home. What should I do?”

Makarov smiles. “That’s simple. You rely on us. I promise you, Fairy Tail won’t let you down. For now, finish looking through that library. If you don’t mind, I’ll hold on to this book for a while.” He holds up worn pages bound in leather. “I’ll see what I can dig up on this Ferez person. If they truly believe the Gate has more than one world connecting to it, then maybe he knows how to get you home.”

I nod and slink back downstairs. Suddenly, I really am thirsty and I grab a drink from Mira. She sends me back down to the library with refreshments for everyone. They greet me and the drinks get swarmed. Natsu and Happy are practically asleep on a bed of books. I can’t blame him, research isn’t for everyone. Erza is halfway up a ladder checking on a high shelf with Gray collecting all the books she pulls out.

Lucy walks up to me. “Check this out. In this book, it says that dragons have the power to gift their magic to children, even before their born. Is that what happened to you?”

“Probably.” I agree. “But why would they do that?”

She holds up a finger for a pause. “This is what it says. Dragons only preform this magic when they are in danger, or if they have no other choice. Normally, dragons will choose a pupil based on their personality and moral codes, since Dragon Slayer magic could be used for the wrong reasons. However, if there is no other way, dragons will choose unborn infants in hopes that they will be able to help them in the future.”

“That makes sense.” Natsu and Happy and right beside us, as if they had never been asleep at all. “Think about it. Diana had these powers since she was born right? That was seven years before the dragons all disappeared. What if they knew something bad was going to happen, and they choose Diana to save them?”

Everyone’s eyes are on me now. Suddenly, the memory of the deep voice rings throughout my head. _You are the only hope we have._ What if that voice was a dragon? Could I have been chosen to play a part in some, fourteen-year plan? I look around to all of my newest friends. “I’m… I’m supposed to save the dragons?”


	17. Magnolia

Once we had torn up the entire library in searching, our odd study group convenes at a table with dinners’ sitting in front of us. Natsu tears into his with gusto, but I’m too occupied to think about food. My nose is still in the book Lucy found.

“But this doesn’t make a lick of sense.” I protest. “There aren’t any dragons where I live, and not even any magic. Why would they choose someone so far away? And if I was picked when I was born, why wait this long?”

Gray across the table from me rubs his head. “Uh, so many questions, it’s making my head hurt.”

I groan. “How do you think my head feels?”

Erza puts down her fork. “It seems that the dragons chose you as a precaution. Maybe they knew something was going to happen, maybe they would eventually find themselves in your homeland.”

Things still aren’t adding up. Dragons don’t just magically appear in another world. Then again, if they could somehow each through the Gate to give me these abilities, maybe they could. Yet that isn’t my only concern. “But Natsu said the dragons all disappeared seven years ago. So why haven’t I heard about dragons in my homeland. I mean they’re huge creatures. Someone would have seen them.”

Everyone sports a puzzled look. Natsu shrugs. “Maybe it took them a while to get there? Maybe they haven’t arrived yet.”

Lucy, who says her first words in a while, speaks in a worried tone. “My concern is, what could have threatened the dragons so much that they felt the need to do this. What could possible harm a dragon?”

Kilala plucks an apple slice of my plate. “Dragon Slayers can.” We all look at her. She stuffs the apple in her mouth. “But there are no Dragon Slayers who would do that, right?” She gazes at Natsu, who pauses from eating.

“None that I’ve heard of. I can’t think of anyone would is dumb enough to pick a fight with a dragon.”

Even though this might have nothing to do with getting me home, I’m still intrigued by the new mystery. It involves me and probably all the others in Fairy Tail. And who knows? It might be the key for getting home anyway. But, I realize now, if I want to get back on the other side without revealing my secret to all of them, I must do it on my own from now on. I sigh. After everything Fairy Tail has done for me, I’ll be truly sad to have to say goodbye. But it must be done. For the rest of dinner, I remain relatively quiet while everyone else throws around ideas. Afterwards, the others get distracted talking to other guild members and I slip away to take to Makarov. Strangely, he’s on the roof staring into the horizon. It’s beautiful from this view, the sun surrendering to the mountain’s embrace and the moon begins to rise. A few stubborn stars twinkle purposefully in the fading light.

“Master.” I say quietly as I approach. Makarov doesn’t turn around, but responds while still staring at the sunset. “You are leaving.”

My heart droops. “I have too. Fairy Tail has done all they can for me. Besides, I don’t want to drag you all down into this. It’s a waste of time for you.”

The master whips around fast, startling me. “Don’t you say that.” He commands. “Helping people like you is the whole point to a guild. We live to do good for others. Your plight isn’t a waste of our time. It’s a blessing, since our members had the opportunity to meet you. I don’t think you realize how much they enjoy your company.”

I’m surprised and a bit taken aback by this. “Master Makarov, I… I have to find a way back. And there’s nothing more that I can find in terms of information. But I promise, I’ll be back, I’ll let you know if I find it. I’ll repay you, somehow.”

The old man smiles in an almost loving way, like I was his grandchild. “You pay us back whenever you can, however you can, even if it’s just a simple thank you and a night to catch up. But you better come back, otherwise, our good deed will go unpaid.”

“I will.” I smile back at him and bow. For a second, I begin to think of him as a grandfather. I’ve never had grandparents before, but I think this is what they’d be like if I did, minus the magic.

I head back downstairs. Kilala is trying to hustle fish from Happy, who is trying to give the fish to the white cat from before. Gray has been ensnared by Juvia again. Erza is going back for thirds on strawberry cake and Lucy is in the corner talking to the other bookworm. All of them are happy and I again wish that I could stay with them. But I approach Lucy, with a goodbye on my lips.

“What?” Lucy asks in alarm. “You’re leaving? Why? We just started on this. We’ll find your home.”

I shake my head. “It’s okay, Lucy. I’m going out to find it on my own. I’ll let you all know what I find, but I think this journey is mine alone now.”

Somehow, the others hear or conversation and crowd around. “You can’t leave now!” Natsu complains. “We know more now than ever. We’ll get you home and find the dragons.”

“Besides, you’re still new at magic.” Erza inputs. “Having friends to support you is never a bad thing. Just wait a little longer.”

I sigh. I knew leaving would be tough. I look at each one of them. “Guys, I appreciate everything, but the rest I have to do alone. There are so many complications and things I don’t want to get you involved in. It’s how it has to be. But I promise, I’ll be looking for the dragons, and I’ll come back and say goodbye before I go home.”

“Well, I’m going with you!” Kilala, floats up to me with her paw raised high in the hair. “I said I was going to help you every step of the way, so I will.”

I frown. “No, Kilala. Why don’t you stay here? I’m sure Fairy Tail will fit you great.”

But she shakes her head harshly. “No, I don’t want to. Besides, all the Exceeds here are partners with Dragon Slayers. That means I’m your partner. Always.”

“Kilala, you can’t come with me. I’m sorry, I’m leaving tomorrow morning alone.” With that last word, I break away from the group. I don’t go with Lucy, since she’ll pester me all night to stay. Kilala disappears somewhere, and Natsu gives up trying to convince me. He and Happy leave with shoulders sagging. It hurts to know that I’m causing them pain. I feel terrible doing this to friends. But they can’t know about the Gate or the other world. Anyone who messes with the Gate gets injured in more ways than one, and I won’t let that happen to them.  I find the bench and slip away into sleep.

The next morning, I groggily open my eyes. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but I begin to see the first light shine through the windows. There is no one in the guild hall, so there’s no one to say goodbye to. I pull out the small pack I had left over from the journey to Bosco. I swing it over my shoulder and head for the door. Before I leave the guild hall, I take a look back at the empty space. I imagine myself as a Fairy Tail wizard, happy and excited, everyone welcoming me. It seems like a heaven, just beyond my reach. But I draw in a breath and my remaining strength and let the door close behind me. My path through town leads me to the edge of the East Forest.

The dawn lights up the treetops turning them gold. I enter, heading along them same trail I walked when I first came to Fiore. My journey is bound for Porlyusica’s house. She may be mad that I am returning there, but she knows about the Gate, and my plan is to gather as much information from everywhere as I can. Hopefully, something she knows will give me a clue.

I walk for a while. Now that I’m not terrified of everything that moves, I take the time to observe the beauty of the forest. There are cliffs to one side of the trail and dense shrubbery on the other. I close my eyes to take in all the sound.

But there is no sound. Not a chirp of a bird or scuffle of a squirrel. There should have been tons of sound this deep in the woods, but there is none. That only happens when something had come through before me. Something loud and dangerous.

The silence is broken by a loud snapping of branches. I turn quickly to the noise. Bursting through the underground, people spring out. A dark aura seems to radiate around them. Instinctively, I back away.

“Oh, I can see why our client sent us.” A skinny guy speaks in a way that send a chill up my spine. He’s dressed like a clown, the most demented clown ever. “She’s bursting with appeal.”

Another one beside him, who’s huge and muscly, mumbles out, “Let’s just get the job done and report back. There’s no need to prolong this.”

“Who are you?” I demand with steel in my voice. But it’s all I can do to keep my hands from shaking.

The men all stare at me with insanity sparkling behind their eyes. Another man in a long cloak and a hood over his head addresses me. “We are Black Moon, a dark guild. We’ve been hired to do a little dirty work.”

Every molecule in my body is on fire, warning me. I had to get away. But before I could come up with a plan, I had to buy some time. “What dirty work? Who sent you? Why do they want me?”

The man in the cloak responds in a monotone. “Why would explain myself to someone who’s going to die?” He moves his arm and a chain lashes out from nowhere. I barely dodge by leaping far backwards. But that proves to be a mistake. Now I’m backed against a large cliff, with no way out.

The large man comes forward. His smirk seems to make the leaves wither. He laughs, “Have a nice _trip_. See you next _fall!_ ” I realize too late. The muscle man brings his massive arm down into the dirt. The ground underneath me crumbles. I try to dive forward to safe ground, but my foot gets caught in the twisting rocks.

I start to fall to the deadly ground below.


	18. East Forest

I’m falling, really friggen _fast_. Wind whips around my head making my hair fly. If I hit the ground, I’ll be nothing but a splat. As the earth rushes up, my mind whirls wildly, yet my thoughts are blank. I know I’m gonna die.

Suddenly, the falling stops, and my hair falls over my shoulder. There’s something holding my shirt in the back. I turn and look up. Kilala is attached to me, flapping her wings to keep us both up.

“What?” I stammer. “What are you doing here?”

She grins guiltily. “I followed you. I told you, we’re partners. I’m not gonna let you do this alone.”

My heart fills with happiness. Seeing Kilala, remembering how much my friends mean to me, it all snaps into perspective. I could have died just then. And if I did that, I’d never get to repay them. I smile at Kilala. “You’re right. I won’t leave you behind again.”

Past Kilala, at the top of the cliff, a flash catches my eye. Kilala looks up in alarm. “We have to go help! I think they found Romeo!”

Panic surges through my blood. “Romeo’s here too!” Him fighting those three dark wizards can’t end well. “Kilala, can you get me up there?”

Her eyes narrow in determination. “Absolutely. Hang on!” With one down stroke of her wings, we’re rocketing upwards. In seconds, I’m above cliffs edge. I see Romeo with an angry expression, staring down the largest of Black Moon. The dark wizard is about to swing his massive fist at Romeo.

“No!” I growl with burning hatred in my voice. Kilala drops me and I hit the dirt behind Black Moon. My feet have barely touched the ground before I launch myself like a cannon at Romeo’s attacker. Shadows engulf my fist as I slam it into his unprotected back. With a yelp, he crumples, landing face first in the rocks. Past him, Romeo lights up with happiness at the sight of me. But there is no time for rejoicing, since the other two wheel on me.

“You are supposed to be dead.” Even though he’s wearing a hood, I can feel the wizard’s dark stare.

I sneer back. “So sorry to disappoint.” He takes a swipe at me with his chains, but I weave away and spit out. “Oh wait, no I’m not.” Something inside of me burns hot, like my heart is on fire. It feels like something is trying to get out, something that wants to reach into every corner of my body. But I can’t right now, I have to fight to protect Romeo. Bearing my teeth, I leap towards the cloaked man. He lashes out another chain, this time with a glowing red haze around it. Right before it hits me, I jump high in the air and the chain flies underneath. I can smell the magic circling it. My instincts tell me I can’t get hit by that chain, not if I want to live.

While the chain slips away, I come in from above with a hard downward kick, with shadows driving me forward. He dodges, but I still nick him. He stumbles as he retreats, gritting his teeth. “This is peculiar. You seem to possess a certain shadow magic. Perhaps our client sees you as a threat. A rival dark wizard.”

I snort angrily. “I’m not a dark wizard. I’m just a girl with some really weird luck.”

Under the hood, the man smirks. “That may be, but either way you must die. Along with any witnesses.” He points his hand at Romeo. The other member of Dark Moon leaps at him. I move faster than I’ve ever moved before, coming in between Romeo and the enemy. I swipe at him and he backs off. My feline companion floats by my side, so all three of us are backed against each other. “Kilala!” I yell. “Get Romeo out of here!”

“I won’t!” Romeo protests. “You can’t fight them alone.”

“Neither of us is going to make it if we both stay! Now go!” I command. But Romeo stubbornly shakes his head.

“Fairy Tail doesn’t abandon each other!” He retorts. “I can fight, so I’m not leaving!” I look at Kilala for help, but she’s being as stubborn as he is.  I give up. “Fine, but just so you know, everyone in Fairy Tail is crazy!”

Romeo grins. “Duh.”

We turn to the dark guild that surrounds us. The other big guy I punched has gotten back up. I have to make a plan, or we’ll be toast. Then I notice, the woods are now behind us and the dark wizards are dangerously close to the cliff. I whisper to my friends. “When I say go, turn and run like a maniac. I’ll be right behind you.” They nod ever so slightly.

I can feel the energy building up in me. I focus it into my clenched fists, waiting for a second to let it increase. I take a breath. “Guys, now! Go!” They turn and sprint/ fly into the undergrowth. Taking a step forward to power my strike, I yell, “Shadow Dragon: Wing Attack!” Two rope like shadows lash out, knocking the wizards away, back towards the cliff. Without looking to inventory the damage, I run after Romeo and Kilala. Within seconds, I catch up to them. “Heads toward Fairy Tail! They’re our only chance!” Our feet fly as we whip through bushes and between trees. It was too much to ask that Black Moon had been dealt with, because I can smell them following us. And they are pissed.

“Why’d the heck did you follow me, Romeo?” I manage to pant. “Kilala, I get, but you?”

Romeo’s answer comes in-between breaths. “You can’t just walk away. You gotta be a member of Fairy Tail. That’s what Natsu said.”

I look at him, baffled. “He said that?” I ask. “Why do I have to join Fairy Tail?”

Romeo huffs in a deep breath. “Because you just do. You’re family and family sticks together.”

My heart twists when he says that. What he said earlier, about not abandoning each other and what Makarov said last night suddenly becomes clear. They want me in their family. I’m in shock. I’ve known these crazy wizards for maybe a week and they want to induct me? It’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.

We reach the edge of the forest and the trees clear. I can hear the snapping of branches behind me. Black Moon is closing in. At this rate, we won’t even make it to the city before they catch us.

“Kilala, fly ahead and get Fairy Tail.” I beg. “We won’t make it in time, but we need help.” At first, she looks hesitant, but then she soars ahead in the direction of Fairy Tail’s giant castle.

Romeo and I pour on as much speed as we can, but he’s six, and swiftness isn’t exactly their forte. But I’m still going strong. I feel like I could even carry him and go faster. So I reach over and pull him onto my back, piggy back style. His arms are hot and I can feel his legs shaking from effort. But I can barely tell there’s extra weight. The dark guild bursts from the edge of the forest in hot pursuit. But now, we are equally matched in speed. They can’t seem to gain any ground. I smile in triumph. We will make it.

But as soon as I think that, my feet suddenly stick together and remain planted on the ground. I crash to the earth and Romeo skids away. When I look back, the skinny member of Black Moon has his hand pointed at us, and its glowing pink. I look at my ankles, they have a pink glow around them and they feel like ropes. There is one around my wrists too, pinning me up.

“Now.” He says slowly as they approach. “We can’t have you running off to Fairy Tail, can we?” His creepy smile reaches the tips of his ears. He twitches his fingers and the pressure from the magic ropes increases so it feels like its cutting my skin. He snickers under his breath. “I wouldn’t try to break them. My magic is like bungee gum. You can stretch it, but you’ll never be able to snap them.”

“Good work, Hisoka.” The cloaked one says. “Now we can kill her before the cat returns with help.”

Hisoka looks at him with a disapproving look. “Oh really? I caught her, I’ll do what I want.”

“Fine.” The burly one huffs. “Just do it fast.”

“You think this is all I’ve got!” I growl. I need to buy time, I need to get Romeo away. And from what I’ve seen this Hisoka likes to talk to his victims before he kills them. Suddenly I become very chatty. “I won’t be beaten by scum bags like you! I’ll never submit! Not ever! I won’t let you win!”

I manage to turn Hisoka’s head. His eyes lock with mine. But they twinkle with evil joy. He leans in close to me, so close that I can feel his breath. “You… are truly incredible. Those eyes. That look. That spirit. I can’t wait…” He leans in so close that our noses touch. “To break you.”

He shouldn’t have gotten in so close. I draw back my head and bash him in the nose. I feel the bone break under my forehead. Hisoka draws back, laughing wildly. “Ha! You really do have a heart worth destroying. Oh, I want to keep you alive, just long enough to see you ripen. When you’re a real opponent…” But his eyes widen. With one last look at me, Hisoka disappears, leaving not even his scent. In a split second, he’s gone. The restraints around my wrists and ankles disappear.

“Where did he go?” The brute asks, but he’s choked off. Both of them stare off into space with their eyes locked on nothing. Then they drop, blood dripping from their necks.

I gasp. Someone just killed them and I didn’t even see it happen. I slide backwards to Romeo, who’s struggling to get up. After struggling to catch my breath and my crashed train of thought, I pick myself up, still shaking. Romeo stands beside me. “What was that?” He whispers still in disbelief. I can’t answer him.

“That.” A deep voice behind us answers. “That was what had to be done.” We whip around. A man dressed in all black stares so hard at me it feels like his gaze will bore through my skull. He has white hair and sunken eyes. He looks off in the distance. “I guess I can’t have anything done right unless I do it myself. And that damn Hisoka managed to escape.” The man sighs. “Sorry, but you have to die. It’s nothing personal, but all Dragon Slayers have to die. And picking you off one by one is the only way to go about it. I’d rather have you meet your end at the hands of a dark guild, but I suppose doing it myself will have to suffice.”

I really do have the worst luck ever. As soon as I get away from one crazy person, another one appears. My eyes narrow. “Before we start.” My voice is hard, and the burning in my heart becomes stronger. “Tell me. Why?”

He stops staring off into the distance. “Because, darkness is the only road to life. Once he rules, once the lord of all conquers the world, a new peace will rise from the ashes, like a phoenix. Its only through death can the world be truly free. With the Dragon Slayers gone, he can finally rise.”

The burning gets hotter. It’s like a wildfire, yearning to escape. “You won’t be killing anyone today.” It’s a promise, not just to myself, but to Fairy Tail, and to my parents, wherever they are.

“You will.” The old man sighs. “And after I’m done with you, the Salamander’s next and everyone in that wretched guild.”

Fear rips through my heart. He means Natsu. Imagining him, everyone, dying, it pushes me over the edge. I snap, the burning inside me roaring out and coursing through my blood. Shadows erupt around me, darker than a moonless sky. My mind goes blank. I charge.


	19. East Forest

My heart rams against my ribcage like a wild animal, raging to get out. I can barely hear anything with the blood pumping so fast through my skull. My vision narrows down on one thing, the evil person standing into front of me. He threatened Fairy Tail, he threatened Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Romeo... I can’t let that happen. Not ever. Somewhere deep inside me, instincts to protect and defend what’s precious engulfs my entire being.

With my fists wreathed in shadows, I launch myself at the old man. I see his body tense as he prepares himself for my attack. I reach him, moving faster than ever before. My fist comes around toward his shoulder, but he retreats away, dodging with a centimeter to spare. To extend my reach, I try to catch him with a hook kick, but again he steps away. His eyes are colder than ice, locked onto me, like I am the only thing that mattered.

“You have no place in the world the dark king will build.” He tells me, his deep voice low and menacing. “Accept that you must die.”

“Shut UP!” I scream, lunging at him with a snarl. I don’t want to talk or banter with this man. I want him gone, miles away from me, away from Fairy Tail. He is a danger to people I care about, and I won’t tolerate it. If he wanted Fairy Tail, he’d have to do it over my blooded body. Of course, that’s what he’s attempting to do, so I have to stop him. Nothing else matters.

My mind reaches back to the day before and grabs hold of all the training Natsu gave me. Crossing my arms in front of me, my hands form blades and I lash out, two shadows erupting from the tips of my fingers. “Shadow Dragon: Wing Attack!” My attack almost seems to chase the man and he’s forced back farther towards the woods. I plant myself firmly in-between him and Romeo. The man sighs.

“You can struggle, but I won’t lose.” He raises his hand and it begins to glow with golden light. “I have barely even begun to tap into my power.” He takes a step forward, I take a defensive step back. His hand, the vibes I’m getting from it. The glow seems to radiate fear.

“Everyone is afraid of something.” The old man’s eyes are now glowing too, seeping gold. My mind races wildly, whatever type of magic this is, it’s making my legs shake and my hands tremble. Suddenly, I can barely stand. The man smirks. “Yes, you are afraid of something, you’re terrified. And who can possibly fight back when they are battling their deepest fears.”

He snaps his fingers and a bolt of golden lightning heads straight for me. Romeo yells in warning, but frozen in terror, I can’t move. The magic hits me, and the world fades away to somewhere else.

I’m back in Resembool. The grassy hills wave in the breeze as the sunlight trickles down to earth. The smell of wet ground rises up and fills my nose. Everything is as it should be. I’m safe, I’m home. There is a prickling at the back of my neck, like I’m forgetting something important, but I shake it off. My house perches before me. My father, my mother, and all the rest of my family sits on the front porch. I’m so happy to see them, I run forward, ready to embrace them, like I haven’t seen them in forever. But as Aunt Julia catches me in her gaze, they all turn to look at me. Their faces are expressionless.

“How dare you return.” My mother says, her eyes narrowing into a glare. “After what you’ve done. You killed that man, you almost killed your cousins. What demon lives inside you? You devil! Monster!”

The sun is no longer shinning, instead, fierce rainclouds glower down. They unleash their anger, pouring onto us. But my family continues to glare at me, as if I am the only dark thing they see. My Aunt pulls my cousins behind her. My father, with the face that I’ve always seen smiling at me, stares with such hatred, I can feel it burning through my chest. He steps forward, and from the holster on his hip, pulls out the gun. He’s never drawn that gun, and now he points it at me.

“Dad…” I cry, my voice rasping. My throat is closed, making it hard to breath. I can’t move, just watch as my own father approaches with his weapon drawn. “Dad, please…. I’m sorry, I’m sorry….I didn’t mean to. Please….”

“Don’t call me that.” He commands, and I shrink away. My father grimaces at the sight of me. “I’m not a father to a demon. Besides, why would I listen to you, Pride! You lie and kill and take pleasure in the suffering of others. I could never love you. And once you’re gone, we’ll finally be free.”

I fall to my knees and he presses the barrel against my head. Tears roll down my face, but are washed away by the rain. Pride… How could I be Pride? I’d never…I would never ever be him. But they fear me, my family, people that I love more than anything. They hate my existence. And it would be easier for them if I was gone. Once I am out of the way, once I die, they could live without the constant threat of my shadows. If I can’t be everything that I am with them, there is no reason for me to continue existing. My hands roll to sides and my shoulders go slack. My heartbeat becomes faint as my eyes flutter shut. I give up, I am finally ready to let go. No one out there could ever accept me, or understand. I am alone. Alone to die.

_Remember._ A voice echoes in my mind, like a drop of water falling on a calm pool. The ripples clear everything else away. All I can hear is that voice. _Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something._

It’s her voice, Lucy’s. Wait… Lucy, I remember her now. She helped me, we’re friends. Even when she learned what I did, she stood by me. Somehow, she pulled me out of my pain. I’m not alone, I’m not the only one who’s ever felt pain. Lucy has too, all my friends have. They’ve got me back on my feet and told me what I have to do. I need to let go of this pain. The fear, the agony that I’ve been keeping locked inside myself, I need to give up those feelings and concentrate on what’s important. Surviving, living, and holding onto the things I love. And right now, they are in danger.

I open my eyes and look up fast. The barrel is still pointed at my head. Faster than lightning, my hand comes up and snatches the gun. It skids away, leaving me open to look up at the cold eyes that stare down at me.

“Say what you want.” My voice is shaky, but strong. “I’m not Pride. I’m not a monster or a demon. I’m a Dragon Slayer. And I’m going to protect my friends!”

The world in my vision seems to shatter, light breaking the landscape into bits. I shield myself from its bright sting. When I open my eyes once again, the forest is back. Magnolia stands behind me. But none of those things matter, since the old man is holding Romeo down, with a knife poised to strike.

He catches my eyes, which are now tainted with murder. His mouth drops open. “How did you…? How did you get out? No one has broken free of my trance! You were fighting the deepest terror, the horrors of your subconscious. You should be paralyzed inside your own mind!”

I growl back at him. “I’m moving on. I’ve accepted my past, the things that happened and I’m going to continue living.” My words echo Erza, who told me what I needed to do from the start. As I speak, my shadows start to grow. They flicker like black flames and dance around me. “You shouldn’t have threatened Fairy Tail. You shouldn’t have threatened my friends. I won’t let you get away with it.”

Something inside me feels different. I feel like the aura around me is pulsing, like the heartbeat of a living creature. My shadows are larger than ever before, surrounding the entire area and turning it to night. The old man’s hand holding the knife loosens and drops it by his side. He lets go of Romeo, who scampers away. The man backs up, this time, terror in his face. His eyes shoot around erratically, as if looking for an escape. But there is none, I’m not going to let him run.

I shoot forward and it feels like I am a shadow itself, melting into darkness and reappearing right behind him. He had turned to flee, but I grab his shoulder and yank him back. The old man lands on the dirt with a thud.

“Stay back!” He yells and aims a blast of gold magic. My senses, sharpened to their height, allow me to dodge with ease.

I swing a fist downward. “Shadow Dragon: Iron Fist!” The old man barely moves out of the way before my attack slams into the ground, making it crack under the force. While my guard is open, he lashes out again, knocking me away. I come up snarling, rage pumping adrenaline through my blood. The man charges up and attacks, his whole body glowing harshly.

My mind reacts without thinking. Instinctively, I take a large breath, inhaling with the power of a storm. The shadows retract into me, building up so much, I feel like I will explode. My hands shake, not with fear, but from the pressure and holding all that power inside. The pulsing gets stronger, shaking the very earth. One wrong move, and I could self-destruct.

The old man, who glows like a super nova, yells with all his might, sending all of his magic screaming towards me. But I lock eyes with it, not giving an inch. No more running, no more hiding. I will not run away. “SHADOW DRAGON: RRROOOAAAAARRRRR!”

The shadows explode. They fill my vision with so much black, I can’t even see anything else. Thunderous noise surrounds my world. Wind whips around me, pulling my hair towards the column of darkness that rages out. All the power drains out of me. My knees buckle, and my arms can hardly catch my fall. The shadows peel away and get smaller, fading away until I can see once again and I take in the aftermath of my magic.

The trees of the forest are bent away, forced down from the blast and most of their leaves are gone. The grass all faces the same direction, making it look like a green runway. The old man is like a statue in the middle of it all. His eyes are rolled in the back of his head, mouth open in a voiceless cry. His clothes are torn and ragged. His body shakes for a few seconds, before he keels over and falls to the ground, barely breathing.

I can hardly stand myself, all the power having left me after my attack. Somehow, I manage to force my legs to move and I stand. My body groans under its own weight, and spots dance in my eyes as if I stood up too fast. But I approach the beaten enemy warily and kneel beside him.

He’s fighting to remain conscious. Breathing heavily, he turns his head towards me. His voice croaks out, “Dragon Force… You pulled on the Dragon Force. You wanted to save your friends so badly, you awakened the dragon life force inside you. And you came out of my Despair Spell, very impressive.” I begin to feel a bit of pride, but the old man laughs quietly with his limited breath. “You may have saved them today, but he knows you’re here now. Hehe… The Dark Lord, he’ll sense your presence for sure and come to dispose of you himself. Now he knows that you exist, the one person who can challenge his plan, he will stop at nothing to kill you. Dragon Force, he felt a Shadow Dragon Slayer’s power. Now he’ll come, and he will destroy you and your pathetic guild and the whole town. The whole kingdom. And you brought it on them.” He laughs again. “You may have beat me, little Fairy. But you’ll never beat Acnologia. He’s coming…. he’s coming...” The old man’s eyes roll back and he slumps over, unconscious.

Acnologia, the name runs a chill down my spine. Whoever he is, he’s coming to Magnolia, and he’s coming for me.


	20. Magnolia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! So, since I haven't posted in forever and I feel like a terrible person, here's an extra long one for you. Ta da!

It is only a few seconds after the battle ended when Kilala returned. My head is spinning, my vision seeing double. I’m not sure if is the massive drain I felt during the fight, or the threat now poised over my head. Either way, I can barely move. My eyes are fluttering, making the world around me come in snapshots. I hear voices, ones I know, and my head tilts towards them. The outlines of my friends figures approach and surround me, their worried tones somehow reaching into my mind. Feeling them around me, my body relaxes and my brain shuts down. I start to fall, and strong arms catch me before I hit the ground. In my last moments of consciousness, I can feel someone lifting me up into their arms.

When I wake up, my face is nuzzled into a white pillow. Fresh sheets cover me. A lump that is not part of me presses against my chest. I open my eyes. The room around me is like an old hospital room, with beds and curtains and tables lining each wall of the room. Instantly, I recognize the smell of the wood and stone. I’m back in the Fairy Tail guide hall. Kilala is snuggled against me. Moving around her, I sit up. But despite my caution not to wake her, her eyes open. “Diana?”

“Hey.” I croak out.

She looks up at me, her hazel eyes wide. “Diana, you finally woke up!” Kilala presses her head into my chest. “We were so worried about you!”

I sigh. “How long was I out?”

“A little under a day.” She answers, picking her head up. “You lost consciousness as soon as we got there. Natsu was so…”

But she stops when the door opens, letting in familiar and comforting faces. Natsu followed by Erza, Lucy, Gray, Happy and Romeo crowd into the infirmary. Master Makarov is the last to enter. Everyone’s face is smiling except for Natsu’s, who’s eyes refuse to meet mine.

“We can’t let you out of our sight for five minutes, can we?” Gray jokes, smirking.

But I can’t laugh, a cloud hanging over my head. I remember the old man’s threat, the terror that is coming. I frown. “Guy’s I have to get out of here.” I let out, the weight clear in my voice.

“Diana,” Erza argues. “Last time you left, you came back to us unconscious. You really think we’re going to let that happen again?”

“You don’t understand!” I beg. “Someone… no… some _thing_ is coming. The man who attacked me was working for a dark lord or whatever, and when I beat him, his master was alerted of my presence. It wants me dead because I’m a danger to his plans. If I stay here, everyone in Magnolia will suffer!” The group is taken aback, but only for a second.

“We’re your friends!” Lucy objects. “We won’t just let you go off and die! Who’s coming after you anyway? Did that old man say?”

I nod. “Yea, he said its name was Acnologia.”

Master Makarov stiffens at the name. We all look at him. “Gramps, do you know who that is?” Romeo asks.

Master Makarov closes his eyes, as all the weight I felt is now on his shoulders. “I do, and if Acnologia is coming, we need to get Diana away as fast as possible.”

“Master!” Erza retorts. “We can’t just let Diana run! If this enemy is coming to kill her, we have to protect her!” I shrink back, feeling fear wash over me. If the master of Fairy Tail is worried about this Acnologia, then my presence is even more dangerous to the lives of my friends. I have to get away; I can’t stay any longer than I already have.

“I’m not suggesting we abandon her.” The master replies, making my head whip towards him. “But for her own safety,” He continues. “Diana needs to leave and find somewhere to hide, otherwise Acnologia will…”

“Wait a minute!” I protest. “This is my fault and he’s after me. None of you should be involved.” I’m not liking the way this conversation is going. They can’t protect me or they’ll die too.

“Hey,” Gray cuts in. “Why are we running from this guy? If Diana could handle that old man on her own, all of us could definitely take down this Acnologia…”

“We cannot!” Makarov snaps. The tension in the room is growing, like static buzzing from person to person. “He’s far too powerful for any of us to handle.” The room was humming with everyone’s voice, all speaking at once, all trying to understand

“But Gramps.” Erza tries to interject. “If we work together…”

“No!” I plea. “Please everyone, stop. This is my fault; I’ll handle this on my own. If Acnologia is coming, and not even you can stop him, then just let me leave. I’ll get far enough away that he won’t attack Magnolia…”

There’s a loud thud as Natsu slams his fist down on the bed stand next to me. Everyone is instantly silenced, and look up at Natsu. He glares at me directly, his eyes as hard a stone. “Diana.” He growls, and his voice makes me shrink back. “Listen to me. You won’t face this alone. Understand? We are not going to let you run off just so you can die. It won’t happen, not as long as I’m alive.”

I have no response, no words to escape my mouth. I look around to each one of my new friends, and their faces tell me they are in total agreement. Suddenly, I’m aware of everyone around me, and exactly what their hearts are set on. Not one of them is going to just let me walk out the door, not even if I try. My own heart beats with overwhelming, un-describable emotion. Without my consent, tears well up in my eyes. “I…” But speech fails. I just cover my dysfunctional mouth and let the wet streaks roll down my face. Kilala hugs me and I feel Erza and Lucy put their hands on my shoulders. But pain grows in my chest, the awful guilt of what I’ve done.

“Guys, you can’t do this, please.” I croak out. “You can’t be willing to sacrifice your lives for me. Just let it end and then let the pain be over. Just let me take Acnologia out with me.”

“No!” Natsu yells. “We won’t…” But he stops when the master holds up his hand.

“Diana, you can’t do that.” Makarov sighs. “Even if we were willing to let you go, you won’t be able to beat Acnologia, even if you sacrifice your life.”

“Yes, I can.” I whisper. “The Gate…”

I see the master freeze at my words. Everyone else looks to me. “What Gate?” Lucy asks. “What are you talking about?”

My mind tells me to stop, to not pour my secret, but my mind is no longer in control, and the words spill from my libs. “The way I came here, the eternal abyss that sucks up everything it touches.” I murmur out. “I’m not from this country. Hell, I’m not even from this world. When I ran away from my family, my magic opened the Gate and dragged me in. I’m from the other side. A whole different world.”

There was silence for a few seconds before Gray says. “Another one? You mean Edolas wasn’t enough?”

“Edolas?” I ask, but Erza waves it off. “A story for another time. But Diana, you talked about this Gate. How on earth are you planning to use it to beat Acnologia?”

 “The Gate takes reparations every time it opens.” I explain. “And for some reason, my magic can open it. If I do it when Acnologia comes to kill me, I can throw us both into it. If I do that, you’ll all be safe. Equivalent exchange, I gain friends and this is the price I must pay for it. Fair is fair.”

“Fair is fair?” Natsu growls. “How I losing your life in anyway fair? And what’s this crap about equivalent exchange?”

No matter what my head tries, I can’t seem to stop myself from answering their questions. “It’s the philosophy that the people on the other side of the Gate live by. It’s all part of alchemy, which is sort of like the magic of this world.” I pause. “But I can’t believe you guys accepted the idea of another world so quickly!”

“Been there, done that.” Happy defuses the comment easily. “Next question.”

“Huh?” I begin to ask when Kilala pulls on my arm. I look down. “Diana, Happy and I and all Exceeds are from a land called Edolas, which is a flipped version of this world. This is not new to us.”

I let that soak in for a second, before the others move the conversation along. “Diana, you can’t sacrifice your life to defeat Acnologia. We’ll find another way.” Lucy assures me.

“Starting.” Erza continues. “With finding out more about Acnologia. Master, what can you tell us about him?” I don’t want this debate to go any further, but at this point, I don’t have a choice but to listen.

Master Makarov shuts his eyes in that pained way again. “Pay attention, all of you.” He commands. “What I’m about to tell you is important.” The wise old man goes on to tell us about our threat, the once human Dragon Slayer that became a dragon himself. This man bathed in the blood of so many dragons, while his mind was warped by a dark wizard. Because of this dark power, Acnologia became the most powerful monster ever known to the lands, killing in dragons and people alike in droves before disappearing for hundreds of years. His goal was to kill all dragons and conquer the world. “And somehow,” the tiny man finishes. Diana’s certain type of Dragon Slaying is the bane of his plans. He’s coming to destroy his only weakness.”

The room is dead silent; one could only hear the murmurs of conversation from the guild hall many rooms away. I sit there, trying to absorb everything the master just told us, barely believing.

“If Diana is his weakness.” Erza says slowly, cutting through the quiet. “Then she can beat him right? That’s why he’s so afraid of her!”

“And he might know where Igneel is!” Natsu interjects. “We have to beat him!” The room starts to come alive, everyone putting in their comments and ideas, attempting to come up with a plan to defeat this enemy. The master says nothing, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. I know what he’s thinking. We stand no chance.

“Everyone stop!” I scream, my voice somehow reaching over theirs. My friends turn to look at me. Suddenly, I’m much quieter. “You all… you all need to stop. I am not Acnologia’s weakness. I’m just speed bump to his plans, so you can’t pin your hopes on me. I can’t beat this monster of a dragon when I’ve only used magic for less than a month. Master Makarov…” I say, turning to him. “There is no chance that I can defeat him, is there?”

He closes his eyes. “No.”

Natsu and the rest look like they’re about to argue, but I stop them. “That’s it, then. If I have no chance at beating him, there is no point of you all dying along with me, along with all of Magnolia. So please, just let me go!” My voice is shotty, and my hands are shaking with grief. “I have enough blood on my hands without yours being there too.” A new wave a tears rolls down my face. I’m done. I’m ready to give up.

“I wasn’t finished, Diana.”

The masters voice shakes me from my tomb of pain. I look at him through the corner of my wet eyes. “I said you couldn’t beat him, I never said _we_ couldn’t.” My friend’s eyes brighten, and Makarov continues. “We have the strongest guild in the whole country, without a doubt, and we have four Dragon Slayers. And they possess magic that was made to go toe to toe with dragons. Fairy Tail has proven that we can pull of the impossible. So, let’s do it again. I’m sure that we can stop Acnologia, even if it’s delaying him long enough to find somehow with the strength to actually defeat him.” Makarov turns to Erza. “Quickly, you a tracing spell on Acnologia. Find out how long it will take until he makes it to us.” He points at Lucy. “Get Levi and find us an advantage. A spell, a weakness, anything that could give us the upper hand. Gray, Happy, inform the guild mates of the situation. Start making preparations. And Natsu,” he locks eyes with him. “Stay with Diana. Give her any information you can think of that will bring her up to speed on Dragon Slaying. We’ll need everything you got.” But I know what he really wants. He wants to make sure I don’t try to go off on my own.

Everyone in the room is grinning as they disperse, even Kilala floating out behind Happy.  But I still feel the weight of doubt pressing down like the world is on my shoulders. If it fails, if they can’t find a way, if Acnologia comes to soon, everyone will die. I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ll settle for my friends to stay alive, even if I fail my own mission to go home.

Natsu sits in the chair next to me and flashes me his wide grin, his teeth resembling the fangs of a dragon. “So, we know some of what your capable of, but I think you can do better…”

I don’t respond, and Natsu tilts his head. “Hey, you with us?”

“I still can’t understand why you’re with _me._ ” I croak out.

Natsu snorts. “That’s a dumb question. We’re a team, we’re not gonna let you get killed by some monster. Fairy Tail doesn’t work like that.”

“Natsu, I can’t do this.” I whine. I feel like a kid, complaining about something, but I let it happen. “I’m tired, and I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve been struggling all my life, against what I was, with all the torments that I’ve had to deal with. And when it finally looked like I was going to win, this happens. I thought I could finally be free of a darkness that I’ve lived with my whole life… and I…” I choke on my words, my body heaving uncontrollably. “I met you… and I had friends for the first time… people who I could be myself with and I trusted. And now I’m going to lose you…I’m going to lose you all because I am cursed. I can’t have happiness, no matter how hard I fight. So I’m done, Natsu, I can’t fight anymore. I give up.”

“Why did you keep fighting?”

Looking up at him, trying to get a hold of myself, I fail to understand. “What?”

“The minute you think of giving up, remember why you’ve held on for so long.” Natsu’s voice is a different kind of strong, his inner steel making the foundation for his confidence. “You said you always fought, your whole life, so what were you fighting for? Why did you keep going?”

I look down at my hands, which are soaked with my salty tears. I think for a while, searching for the answer to that question. Finally, my mind rests on one thing. “My family. I just want my family.”

“There you go.” He says calmly, crossing his arms and leaning back. “You fight for the same reason we fight. You fight for the people you love. And that’s why we do the impossible, because of what we fight for. Every time something happens, it always looks like we’re gonna fail. But we don’t, because Fairy Tail never ever gives up.” Natsu leans forward again with his steel now in his eyes. He extends his hand to me and I stare at it. He keeps it there. “So don’t give up,” it’s a command. “Because the beginning is always the hardest, so let’s keep going to the very end.”

“You consider this the beginning?” I ask, still looking at his hand. “The beginning of what?”

Natsu doesn’t miss a beat with his answer. “The beginning of your life as a member of Fairy Tail, as member of _this_ family. You fight for your family, Diana, so fight now.”

My mind is totally blank, not one thought echoing through my head. My heart thumps like drums, it’s thunder rolling in my ears. Slowly, I take his hand.


	21. East Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close, people!

Nothing like the threat of death to make a person move. Erza had been able to quickly pinpoint Acnologia’s position, and how fast he is moving. At the rate he is going, Acnologia would be in Magnolia by nightfall.

“We have to evacuate.” I beg. “If we’re going to make a stand, we should do it before he reaches Magnolia, but just to be safe.”

“She’s right.” Erza agrees. It seems that everyone is glad of my acceptance to fight together. Once Natsu had renewed my hopes, I had joined in the hunt for an answer. The library is in shambles and the master had contacted every intelligent wizard he knew. Nothing had come up yet, and we had no plan.

“Not a wisp of a solution.” I grit my teeth and throw another book aside, and Kilala hands me another one. “I have to work faster; I have to find _something!_ ”

“We will!” Kilala assures me. “This is the best guild ever, and we have time…”

“No we don’t!” I cry. “He’s coming tonight! And it’s almost sunset!”

“We have a few hours.” She tries to sooth my erratic nerves, but I can hear her own nervousness. I go back to focusing on the words, tearing through the pages.

“Found something!” Levi, the blue haired bookworm, shouts from across the room. Instantly, we fly to her side. She reads off the page. “A sealing spell. It will contain a monster for a short time. The requirement is the magic of four different elements. It’s not perfect but it could buy us some time.”

“But this is meant to bind things like Vulcans or other small time forest monsters.” Gray moans. “I don’t think it will hold a dragon like Acnologia…”

“You’re right.” Levi sighs, “I’ll keep looking.” We grudgingly go back to our corners. Everything we found was a fluke or not strong enough.

Even so, I turn to Levi. “Is there a trick to binding spells? Like a key component?”

“Well.” She ponders. “Like all magic, they get stronger based on emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic binding is. That’s really the only thing I can think of.” Resolve, determination. All are needed for magic to be strong. It’s true I’ve faltered before. But I’ve never felt so sure of anything in my life than the action I’m about to take. I won’t go down, not now, not ever. In attempts to find a cure to the approaching plague, I borrow the book from Levi, trying to find a way to wing a bind spell. But I find nothing.

Soon the time comes. “Guys, I have to leave now. If not, Acnologia will be on top of Magnolia and the people aren’t done evacuating.”

“We’ll intercept him in the East Forest.” Erza says, standing up. “But, I promise, we’ll figure something out as we go.” I’m not so sure. Heading out with not even a plan, we might as well be offering ourselves up to a slaughter. But I have faith in my friends. If anyone can pull this off, it’s them.

“Don’t worry, Diana.” Lucy appears by my side on our way out. “We almost never have a plan. But we come through anyways.” I hope she’s right, for all our sakes.

“We’re throwing everything we got at him.” The master of Fairy Tail, who stands ready, has the same determination in his eyes that Natsu had. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Happy, Gray and Kilala and stand with me, our eyes narrowed in determination. I notice more with us than before. To my left is the young girl, Wendy, one the Dragon Slayers, and the white flying cat, whose name I found was Carla. On the other side, a mostly black cat with a red sword, Panther Lily, and the man I met in the mountains, Gajeel. He looks over at me with a nasty look in his eye, but I am pretty sure he always looks like that.

“What?” I ask.

He gives me a small smirk. “Glad to see you’ve stopped messing around, princess.”

Before, I would have backed away from the comment, or tried to withdraw. But today, I look forward again with a smile. “Yea, I finally have.” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch an ever so faint smile creeping over Gajeel’s face. He was right back then; I was letting other people protect me. And although I’m still letting Fairy Tail play a part in keeping me alive, I have finally embraced my darkness and started taking responsibility for my own life. It is an odd feeling, but one I am willing to explore.

“Everyone listen.” Master Makarov calls us to attention. “This not going to be easy, or even mildly difficult. This will be worst enemy Fairy Tail has ever faced. But we will face it, as one family, and we will prevail!” He points at me with confident smile. “Fairy Tail is family and I am proud to induct our newest member!”

 I feel a hot and tingling sensation on my right shoulder, and when I look down, I see it glowing. The light gets brighter, and when it fades, a silver mark ripples across my skin. It’s the symbol of Fairy Tail, the same emblem that flies as a flag over our heads. The guild master, my guild master, raises his hand up and points his index finger to the sky, sticking out his thump in a checkmark position. “Diana of Fairy Tail!”

My fellow guild mates do the same, and I follow, extending my hand into the darkening sky. My heart thumps and my body shakes with energy. I feel whole, completely surrounded by family. Despite the threat, the fear of death, I am the happiest in my life.

“Now go!” Gramps yells. “And may all of our strength go with you!”

“Right!” We all call in unison. With that, we charge, running in line, the East Forest in our sights. Our goal is to get as far into the woods as possible before Acnologia appears. The farther away from Magnolia the better. Our team reaches the woods within minutes, Erza and Natsu leading the way through the underbrush. The sun is starting to be swallowed by the mountains to the west, while the moon rises in front of us. The sunset is the last comfort I get of the disappearing light. Soon Acnologia will be here, and when that happens, I can’t make any mistakes. I have to make all the right decisions and give it my all and then some. Anything it takes to win.

I think back, remembering my whole life, all the memories that have stuck with me over the years. My father, my mother, my cousins and uncle, everyone who I call my family. But right now, I’m not just fighting for them. My gaze floats to my shoulder, where the Fairy Tail emblem sits as if it’s always been there. I’m not just fighting for my blood family; I’m fighting for so much more. And all those times, all those moments where I was afraid, I always ran. I ran to the woods, to be alone. And truthfully I hated it. I hate being alone. And if I run away from those fears, then I will always be alone.

But I’m done running; I’m done trying to escape the uncertain. There is one thing I _am_ certain of, and that is my faith in my friends. I will never ever run away from them. Instead, I will stand and fight. Because Natsu is right, this is the beginning.

It seems like we run for hours, the bushes and vines snapping underfoot, until Natsu comes to a sudden stop. Still lost in thought, I plow right into him, and we come crashing to the ground. “Natsu! You can’t just stop like that!” I complain.

“It appears that you found Fairy Tail.” A familiar voice comes from above, a grouchy voice, and I look up. Porlyusica stands over Natsu and I, looking at me with disapproving eyes. “Well if you didn’t find Fairy Tail, they would have found you. They have a way of meeting the odd and the needy.”

I scamper up, dusting the dirt off of myself. “You need to get out of here. Acnologia is…”

“I am perfectly aware of what you’ve caused, child.” She snaps. “You activated Dragon Force and he sensed it. Hell, I felt it as if I was standing right there. If you wanted to attract unwanted attention, that was the way to go.”

I look at the ground. “It’s not like I meant to…” Honestly, half the things I do I don’t actually mean to.

“Either way.” Gray interjects. “You need to get out of here, and we have to keep moving.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Porlyusica huffs. “Acnologia will be here in a matter of minutes. Take this time to prepare yourselves.” She turns to me, and I can sense concern behind her cold eyes. “Diana, I also came to warn you. This place, this is where I found you.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Wait, you mean…”

“When you came through the Gate, this is where you appeared. I don’t know what difference that will make. But, at least you know.”

Looking at the ground, I feel a knot rise in my gut. This was the place, the spot where I became part of this world. I don’t know what it meant, but that is a mystery for another time.

“Thank you, Porlyusica.” I say quietly. “For everything.”

She nods. “I will leave now, Fairy Tail. Be sure to return triumphant.” We dip our heads as she leaves. Again, more people have faith in us, in me. It was extra weight on my shoulders, but I am willing to carry this burden.

“Well,” I turn to my friends. “I guess we wait.” The last rays of sun dip down under the horizon, taking its warmth with it. The moon frees itself the earth’s embrace, shining its pale light over us, turning the leaves on the trees bright white. A bit of light shines on my emblem, making it glow in a sparking silver. It’s a piece of hope that I hold onto. My hand reaches up to my neck, where the small dragon necklace still dangles. I clutch it, as if is Hazel and Evan hands. As if the tiny trinket is a gate itself to home. I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing right now. Are they really sad? Do they miss me as much as I miss them? But again, questions for another time.

“Diana?” Natsu asks, stepping up next to me. “Do you want to go on a job with us when this is over?”

“Huh?”

“A job.” He repeats. “Now that you’re a member of Fairy Tail, you can go on job requests. I think you should come with us when this is over. It’ll be awesome.”

I look around to all of my friends. They are smiling, lighting up the space better than even the moon. I grin back at them. “Definitely.”

Suddenly, the calm breaks. A roar, louder than anything I’ve ever heard before, shatters the night with a force stronger than thunder. The sound shakes the ground and I cover my ears and scrunch up my face in pain. Our whole team falls to our knees. I manage to look up. But the moon is covered by a huge figure. It’s got wings and claws and a tail that’s as wide as a street. This monster is a terrifying sight, chilling me to the bone.

Acnologia has come.


	22. Battle for Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I had the worst writer's block over the summer and finally got it back again. So here you go. We're so close to the finish.

Jagged black wings cut out the moon, it’s remaining light outlining the dragons massive clawed hands. Even from far away, Acnologia is large enough to make me tremble with fear. I’ve never felt like this before, as if his very essence radiated terror. My hands shake and I feel the blood drain out of my face.

“He’s….” I whisper. “He’s…”

“He’s big.” Natsu growls. I glance over to him. He’s shaking, too, but there’s a steel in his eyes. “That means he’ll fall hard.”

All of my guild mates have the same determination in their faces, unwilling to back down despite the fear. I calm my wild nerves to face the approaching threat. Acnologia is coming closer, diving in from a high altitude. I can hear the massive sound of his wings slicing through the air. Soon, my vision fills with his body. When Acnologia reaches the ground, he collides with the earth, sending a shock wave surging toward us. I’m knocked backwards, landing on my chest almost a hundred feet away. I can feel the bruises forming on my face and there are rocks in my hair. My friends have been knocked back, scattered around, but I see them starting to rise. With effort, I push myself up.

“Alright everybody!” Erza yells. “Now is our chance! Charge!”

The Fairy Tail wizards call out in an enraged battle cry as they leap forward, coming from all directions. I fall into step beside Gajeel. From behind me, I hear Lucy call forth one of her spirits. Wendy and Natsu advance from my left, while Gray and Erza attack from the right. Together, we summon up our magic.

“Regulus Impact!” I see a well-dressed man with lion ears fly past me, his hands glowing in a bright light. He is the first to connect a blow with Acnologia. He rams his fist into the beast’s shoulder, but it glances off, sending the man toppling away.

“Loki!” Lucy cries. “Come back!” The spirit leaps backwards into line with us. I look up at the shoulder he attacked. There isn’t even a scratch.

“Ice-Make Lance!” Gray yells, and from his fists springs dozens of spears made of ice, aimed for the eyes. They hit and shatter. When the shards clear away, Acnologia’s eyes still stare out at us. I realize then that he’s not even trying to dodge. Our attacks are not enough alone.

“Guys!” I yell. “All together! We can’t hurt him if we go one at a time!” Heeding my advice, my friends begin to power up, there magic swirling around them like storm clouds. Erza requipes into a silver armor with wings, surrounded by swords. Natsu engulfs himself in flames, while the air around Gray turns to shards of ice. Wendy and Gajeel have swirling circles of wind and steel twisting around them like tornados. I too charge myself up, focusing my power into my hands. All eyes are focused on Acnologia.

“Now!” Erza yells. “Go for the chest!” We charge forward, sending everything we have at the giant beast. He rears upwards, as if letting us attack, giving us a clear shot at our target. I leap up and channel all of my magic power into his scaly front. “Shadow Dragon: Talon!” It connects and I feel my arms ripple from impact. In that moment, all of our combined might lashes out and hits one spot. Energy hums and shakes the space around it, surging through my body. A cloud of smoke bursts and consumes the space around us. Our team falls back out of the haze and hits the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my friends doing the same thing I am, waiting to assess the damage. I couldn’t imagine that all that did nothing. There was no way. These people were the strongest I’ve ever seen.  An attack with them together must have done something.

But from the cloud, Acnologia’s massive club tail swings toward us. Caught off guard, I try to avoid, but I’m too slow. The rubble from the carnage smashes into me and I’m sent flying away, crashing into the tree line surrounding the clearing. My vision is blurred and I can barely breath. My cuts sting and my whole body feels broken. But something in me bids me to rise. I have to get up; I have to keep going. My friends are counting on me.

I shake my head hard and my vision clears. I look up onto our enemy. There’s not even a dent in his armor. Angry, I growl and pick my way into the clearing. My friends are still there, still standing, glaring up at the black dragon.

I reach them, keeping my eyes on the threat. “What now?” Wendy asks.

“Again.” Natsu commands. “Keep going until we win.”

“I think the dragon slayers should attack with everything they have.” Erza’s cold look should have sacred the crap out of anyone, but on this monster, it had no effect. “The four of you, gather more strength. We’ll keep him busy until you’re ready to attack.” We nod our heads. All except the dragon slayers charge, ducking a weaving around his massive claws and tail.

In the pale moonlight, I can faintly make out the shadows of trees. I start to eat the shadows, a sensation that brings life into my bones and fills my heart with renewed enthusiasm. Natsu eats fire arrows that one of Lucy’s spirits shoot at him. Gajeel starts eating large chunks of metal that he had stashed somewhere. I feel the wind whip from Wendy consuming the air around her. The tension in the air is immense, seeming to crack the walls of time itself. Everything slows down as each dragon slayer began to concentrate the energy inside us. It was this attack, this had to bring him down.

I glance over at Natsu, just as he turns his gaze to me. For a second, our eyes lock together. I hear his voice in my head as if he was saying it right in front of me. My mind can perceive nothing else. _Think of why you’ve held on for so long._ I see his whole body be engulfed by his flames, burning brightly with every emotion. He looks back to our friends, desperately trying to hold back the terror in their hearts. I too look into the face of the enemy. Narrowing my eyes, I feel my own passions, my love, my happiness, my hate. After years of doing nothing except holding them down, I had emotions welled up deep inside me. So I reach down and break that wall, and everything that had been suppressed for all my life raged to the surface. Suddenly, I am surrounded by a vortex of shadows. It grasps at my hair as it whips around. The darkness spirals upwards. A roar explodes from my mouth as, like Natsu, my magic reaches out to seize the night. It’s almost out of control.

_With this power._ My mind screams over the sound of my own magic. _With my power, I can defeat you. You threaten my family, the people I love, then you will face my strength, and with it the flames of hell!_

“You hear me, Acnologia!” My voice is different. It has a low and menacing base, accompanied by an animal’s growl. I sound like the voice in my dream; like a dragon. “We will defeat you! I WON’T LET YOU WIN!”

With that, my vortex expands. My power turns into a hurricane of swirling shadows. But at that moment, it all goes wrong. The ground beneath me seems to shift under my feet. The noise, the magic swirling around, the roar of the dragon. It all fades away. I can see Natsu’s mouth moving, trying to speak to me, but I cannot hear the words. The dirt underneath me begins to glow. I look down.

The circle of light, one that I’ve only seen once but remember so well, strikes terror into my heart, stabbing me with its jagged spear. The transmutation circle has me trapped, glowing an angry green underneath my feet. _No._

The world trembles. My vision, filled with my friend’s faces, becomes a broken glass window in my eyes. I hear an ear splitting creak from behind me. I turn to face my death. There is nothing but white surrounding the black marble gate. It looms over me as their doors begin to open. From inside, the awful hands claw their way out, reaching for me. I can’t scream, I can barely move.

“No.” I beg. “I can’t… my friends… they need me. I can’t go now. Please.” But the hands still pour out of the Gate. They seize my arms and dig into my skin. I cry out in pain as the blood drips down my arm. “No! I yell. “Not yet! You can’t! Let me finish!” I pull against the hands, but they’re too strong. Like before, the start to drag me towards the abyss. I struggle, pulling at the hands, kicking my legs to try to stop moving closer to the Gate, but nothing works. More hands lash onto me. I cry out, but hear nothing put the whispering voices of the abyssal creatures that keep me trapped.

Suddenly, I feel a hand grasp my shoulder. I look back. Natsu has latched onto me, pulling with all his might. “Fight!” he yells. “Fight! After everything you’ve done, all the work and sweat you put into your life, you’re really going to let it take you? They’re shadows, Diana! So they are yours to command! Don’t you dare leave us here!”

My eyes widen. He releases one of my shoulders and his fist summons flames. Natsu lashes out at the hands, and they burn away. The tension releases. I gasp. Natsu grins. “I’ve beat these things before. A long time ago during the Nirvana problem. You can beat them too. You can control them, so do it!”

Seeing him, watching the way Natsu defined the laws of my world, it filled me with determination. He was right. This is my power, and these shadows were just another fear I had to conquer.

I stand up straight. My arm grabs the hands holding me. “No.” I yell at the Gate. “This is my power, this is my home, and I won’t let you take it!” The hands stop pulling, just lingering in the space. “Now,” I growl. “You are going to help me protect it.”

I inhale, taking the abyssal shadows inside me. I feel overloaded with their power, as if my soul will burst. My body, once again surrounded by shadows that seem to glow in their darkness, surges forward. I seize the doors, placing my hands on their marble surface, feeling the engraved words of a forgotten language. I push, forcing the Gate closed. With the grinding of stone, the doors shut, and the white fades away. The marble doors vanish, leaving the woods and clearing shrouded in darkness. I breathe hard and deep, trying to recover.

I sense Natsu behind me and turn to face him. He’s grinning in that way that only he can. “I think…” He says slowly. “I think that we can beat him. Whadaya say?”

I grin back. “Let’s do this.”


	23. Battle for Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in one night. I got the motivation and I'm stuck in one room for hours. I should do this more often.

The fire that burns in my heart and soul can be rivaled only by Natsu. I feel a sensation that has never touched my mind before, confidence. I am strong and I know that when I stand with my friends, there is nothing that we can’t beat.

My vortex of magic instantly erupts like a volcano and fills the clearing. Natsu’s flames mix with mine, and Wendy and Gajeel’s magic enters the swirling hurricane. Anyone from the outside must think the world was ending, the wind, the dirt, the fire and the darkness all whirling in one big pool.

“We are ready.” Gajeel calls. “So let’s go.” He holds out his hand to me. I take it, gripping his rough skin in my palm. Wendy takes his other hand as Natsu takes mine.

“Alright! Here we go!” I yell out. In a flurry of feathers, Exceeds appear behind us and lift us up into the midnight sky. The stars seem to cheer us on. Together we rise above Acnologia. I can feel the magic tearing around inside of me. The abyssal shadows don’t want to be contained. But I endure it, just a little longer, until I turn the power of hell that’s within me onto my enemy.

Our friends see us ascend, turning their eyes upwards. They give one last attack before Acnologia shakes them off and they leap out of the way. “Let em’ have it!” Erza shouts.  

Winding up, the sensation of all four kinds of dragon slaying magic mixes and fuses to each other. I am not longer in control, merely the energy’s humble guide. The four of us, with all of our power, fix our eyes on Acnologia, just as he locks his on us.

“DRAGON SLAYER … UNISON RAID!”

Words cannot describe, only the imagination can come close to this moment. All of our energy blasts in a tidal wave of destructive force, hurtling towards the dragon. The sound crashes over my ear drum and burns my skin. I can barely see as the mountain of magic collides with Acnologia, steamrolling him into the ground. At first he tries to withstand is, but the pressure is too great. The ground beneath him cracks, shattering under the weight. His footing is lost, and he falls. He roars back at us, but it’s too late, the monster is already down, but the sound of his anger still breaks the stability of the earth as it trembles in fear. But we don’t let up. Although our ears have brayed with noise and our skin is stinging from the heat of our own magic, we keep attacking, letting everything we have free to raze Acnologia to the ground.

Finally, the dragon’s roar seems to subside.  Our magic, raging in a sea of emotions, presses down on him. His terrify voice disappears. The dragon slayers stop our onslaught, unable to go on. It takes everything I have to keep myself conscious. Kilala lowers me down onto the ground, and I watch with half-closes eyes as the rest also kneel over on the ground, trying to stay awake. My arms vibrate violently and I nod my head in an attempt to keep it upright. With the last of my energy, I force myself to look up at the damage we have wrought.

All the trees in the area we’re mostly gone, leave a few broken stumps and a few leave-less branches. Erza, Gray and Lucy appear from the borders of the carnage, staring at the sight in the middle.

A huge circle almost the guild hall had been carved into the ground. It looks like a transmutation circle, glowing with a faint purple glow. I am wary at first, but I find the strength to stand and look at more closely.

“Is that it?” Gray asks. “Did we beat him?”

I pick my way around the debris and smoldering rocks of the clearing till I reach the edge of the circle. “I don’t know…”

“You’ve sealed him.” An old cranky voice scares us all after to death. Despite the fact we are all beaten and bruised, we find the energy to whip around in a panic. Porlyusica stands with her red cloak wrapped neatly around her shoulders. I didn’t hear her come up, there was no sign of her approach.

“Where the heck did you come from?!” Natsu yells. My mouth stops working from surprise.

“My house is a short walk from here.” She huffs out. “It’s not hard to figure out when the battle is finished and who had won. In any case,” She snorts. “He is not done. Acnologia is still alive. By combining four types of dragon slayer magic, you’ve managed to find a way to cut him off from his magic. He will remain like that as long as you’re magic exists in this world.”

It takes a few moments to comprehend what the old woman has said. “So,” Wendy, “If we’re alive, Acnologia will stay sealed?”

“Not exactly.” Her eyes close as if remembering something bad. “If you’re magic is somehow cut off completely, if even one of you fails, Acnologia will be freed again. So watch out. There is magic that can bind your magic power. The fate of the human race lies in your hands.”

We let that settle on our shoulders. The fate of the human race. My mind wanders back to my father. He once had a burden like that to carry. The fate of Amestris, to save it from the Philosopher Stone and the Homunculus. But he won, because there was people he could depend on. I might have the weight of this world to hoist above my head, but I’m not doing it alone. I let out a small laugh. “I think we can handle it.”

The rest of Fairy Tail smiles. “Yea!” Kilala cheers. “We beat Acnologia! We saved the city.”

“We saved the world!” Wendy smile glows. Her energy seems to restore the rest of the team.

“I can’t wait to get back to Magnolia and tell them!” Natsu laughs. “Common, Happy!” He responds with a triumphant. “Aye, Sir!” They get up and start running to the woods.

“More like he wants to brag to everyone…” Gray comments in the background.  The wizards chase after Natsu’s fleeting ripped clothing. I crack a grin. Turning to Porlyusica, I gaze at the first person who showed me a taste of this world. “Thank you.”

“For what?” She asks. The woman doesn’t seem angry anymore, just a normal person.

“For helping me find my family.” My words bubble up from my heart. “I was lost, and they found me. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

She shakes her head. “Prove to me that my efforts weren’t in vain. Go back home and be the greatest Fairy Tail wizard you can be. That way, you can save the world with them over and over again. That’s how you repay me.”

A thought strikes my mind. Master Makarov, he told me to come back too, as a payment for their help. How could I refuse. “I’d like nothing better.” I turn to chase after my friends. I’m going to repay my debts; I’m going to go home.


	24. Magnolia

The sun has just broken free from the night’s embrace, and we are running through the streets of Magnolia. The morning rays of light dance across the rooftops, celebrating our victory. Natsu leads the pack, saying something about being an S-class wizard. Erza shuts him down fast. By the time we reach the guild hall, I’m having trouble running because I’m laughing too hard.  The thudding of feet and the front doors bursting open are the only warning our guild mates get.

“We got em’!” Natsu yells as he rushes into the guild hall. Everyone, including the Master, stands up to greet us. Applause rings through the rafters, everyone wears a face equal its weight in gold.

“You made it back alive!”

“This is amazing; you took down a dragon!”

“You saved the whole city!”

“Fairy Tail wizards are the strongest in the world!”

“Now we’ve got four Dragon Slayers in our guild!”

“I bet no other guild can say that!”

Lots of more cheering fills the hall, until Master Makarov stands up on the counter of the bar. “Listen up, everyone!” The guild turns. “This is no ordinary feat, which means….” He grins and holds up a beer glass. “That this will be no ordinary party! So let’s get to the celebrating!”

“Yea!”

Beer and wine rains in the air as the storm of Fairy Tail. It doesn’t take long for one of the wizards to run and bring the townspeople back. People starts throwing their own celebrations, so the whole city of Magnolia turns into the biggest party in the world. I refrain from drinking, but not the laughter. Many wizards, ones I’ve never even seen before, come up and ask to hear the story. I tell it over and over again. They can’t get enough. Natsu and Gray end up brawling, which manages to draw in the entire guild. Even Erza jumps in. I do my best to avoid, sitting at a table in the corner with Lucy, Levi, Wendy, and our two feline cats.

“Get used to this, Diana,” Levi advises. “This happens all the time.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” I laugh.

“So what are you going to do now?” Wendy asks. Her pretty brown eyes gaze up at me in a way that brings Hazel’s faces to my mind. I clutch my necklace.

“Well, I have a lot of stuff I need to do, repay old debts, and a promise to keep.” I smile, my eyes drifting to the table.

“And she’s not going anywhere without me!” Kilala pipes in. “Mira-Jane just gave me my Fairy Tail mark a few minutes ago.

“Oh yea, you promised to go on a job with us!” Lucy remembers. “Just you wait, it’ll be so much fun. And I can finally get my rent all paid off.”

“Speaking of.” Carla interjects. “You’ll need to find a place of your own, unless you’ll be staying in the guild dorms.”

I glance over at the ever-growing brawl behind me. “Yea, I think I’ll try to find my own place. Bunking with this group might be hazardous to my health.” The table gives a giggle.

Suddenly, Master Makarov’s voice echoes through the guild. Everyone in the fight freezes. Quickly after that, bandages are administered and tables stood upright. Master Makarov can be really scary when he’s huge like that. I make a mental note not to get on his bad side.

Once again, Fairy Tail returns to normal, well as normal as we can get. I watch my friends, laugh and eat and have fun together. At one point, they drag me over to look at jobs. There’s monsters, and thieves and every kind of job I can think of. Wide-eyed, we search through the papers until we find one that’s seems just right. I take a chance to look out the window.

It’s already dusk, and when I look around the guild hall, most of the guild members who were drinking have passed out on the tables. Suddenly I feel tired.

Lucy invites Kilala and I to stay at her place again, until we find a place of our own. I nod and gladly accept. But when we walk through the doors, the townspeople are waiting, smiling with glee. My team, along with the rest of Magnolia, push me through the streets to a small house on the edge of town. It’s made of stone, with a cute chimney. In front of the walkway, a sign pokes out of the ground, etched with our names, Diana and Kilala. My mouth drops open, and Kilala starts to cry. They gave me a house. I can’t believe it.

The deep into the night, my friends play guest in my new home. With them inside it, it wasn’t hard to like it instantly. It has been only a week in this world and I had a house, I had friends, and a family, and not a fear in the world. For once in my life, I am truly happy with who I am.


	25. Epilogue

Fairy Tail is full of surprises. The next morning, I’m curled up in bed, snoozing with a faint smile, when I feel a tickle on my nose. I open my eyes and my vision is filled with a furry face.

“Common Diana.” Kilala’s voice is perky for so early in the morning. “Big first day!”

And that’s the start of my life in Fairy Tail. For now, the threat had been quenched, and our team could live and fall into a usual routine. I go on adventures with my friends and discover new things and get stronger. But the thought is always on my mind, why? Why am I a Dragon Slayer, and how do I find my purpose? Our mission is still the same, find the dragons and understand why they all disappeared. But after almost a year, we haven’t learned anything new. Lucy pours over the books in our library, and Natsu and I confer back and forth, trying to piece together the puzzle, but we always end up with our brains smoking and nothing gained.

I dream about my family on the other side of the Gate almost every night. I wonder if they miss me, what they’re doing and if they’re alright. I’m almost positive that the twins will go on to be State Alchemists and join their father in serving the country. I know my mother will keep helping people, giving them new arms and legs so that they can live their lives. But my father, I have no idea. I lay in bed, staying up thinking about it. Would he continue his work with the government? Would he look for me, even attempt to open the Gate? I doubt it, he learned his lesson long ago, and he doesn’t even have his alchemy anymore. I imagine him now, in Central, working to find new ways to lead Amestris into the future. My mind wanders back to before I left. There was a big uproar in Central, and that’s why he left right before my birthday. Something about massive creatures….

I bolt upright in my bed. My breath comes fast, realization breaking into my mind. Those giant creatures, like someone had tried to transmute a…. dragon.

“Oh my gosh.” I pant out. Kilala wakes up and floats over.

“What’s wrong?” She asks. “Bad nightmare?”

“No.” I whisper, still trying to put my mind back together. “I remembered something.”

“What?”

I look at her, my eyes wide with excitement. “I think I know where the dragons are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF ACT ONE


End file.
